Vytal: RWBY BLAC Volume Two
by CyrusBlack1
Summary: Teams BLAC, AYST, SSGE, and STON are among the students selected by Professor Pine to head to Mistral along with Professor Ember Haze to represent Beacon Academy in the 52nd Vytal Festival. Meanwhile, outside forces stir and plot to to bring the four kingdoms to war with one another for the first time in over one hundred years.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello good people of the internet, I hope you are all having a wonderful day today (whenever "today" is for you). Before you read the next volume of my RWBY BLAC series, I would like to make a request. If you have any questions you wish to ask me about this story or any others of mine, please be signed into an account so I can respond to them as this site doesn't allow you to respond to 'guest' accounts and I would rather not leave any questions unanswered, thank you. I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Vytal: RWBY BLAC Volume Two.**

 **P.S. This story will be updated every other week because I'm currently in semester at college.**

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Chapter One: The Next Phase

The rhythmic symphony of a heartbeat sensor and a respirator filled the hospital room which held only two occupants, a middle-aged woman with black and red hair and a teenage girl with hair the color of a candy-cane. The younger girl also bore some resemblance to the woman. The older of the two women was hooked up to the respirator and heartbeat sensor, along with various other life support systems. The teenage girl sat next to the comatose woman and wept over her. As she cried another teenage girl walked into the room, she was blonde and possessed a pair of cat ears atop her head.

"Hey B, you ready to go or do you need some more time?" She asked softly.

"I need a few more minutes Alyssa," Bianca replied with a melancholy tone.

Alyssa simply nodded and walked out of the room to give her cousin a few more minutes with the comatose woman.

Bianca wept as she looked down to the woman in the hospital bed, "I'm so sorry mom, if I was even half as strong as you are, you wouldn't be in this place right now."

After a few minutes of sitting with her mother, Bianca stood and leaned over her and placed a kiss on her forehead before then heading for the exit of the room.

As Bianca exited the room, still crying lightly, Alyssa gripped her in a light and caring hug, "don't worry, I know my Aunt Ruby, she's strong and she'll pull through."

"You don't know that for sure," Bianca replied softly.

Alyssa hesitated to rebuttal her cousin's words. Even though she was an optimist she had a sinking feeling that her aunt may not pull through and wake from her coma. Since she couldn't think of a reply that would cheer up Bianca she simply patted her on the back.

"Come on, we should get back to Beacon, curfew is in an hour and class is starting back up tomorrow."

Bianca didn't reply, she simply followed her cousin out of the hospital and to the nearby Bullhead docks to head back to Beacon Academy.

In their combat class the next day Professor Haze looked a bit hungover, so it seemed like Team BLACs class would get out early today. This was the normal occurrence on Mondays though.

Currently fighting in the class were Apollo and Oliver's teammate Nikolas Phloros and a boy who used what looked like a pair of blacksmith hammers for weapons. Nikolas was Team STON's (Stone) best fighter and one of the top students in the class with only a small handful of losses to his name. Like Alani, Nikolas is what one would call a "true warrior", he may not be from a warrior culture like her, but his family have always been warriors and he lives by the concept of bushido. His father and grandfather were huntsmen and before that his family were career soldiers in the now dissolved Imperial Army of Mistral, going as far back as the founding of that kingdom. His great-grandmother was a general for Mistral during the Great War whose only defeat came at the hands of the King of Vale in the conflict's final battle.

As Nikolas was making short work of his opponent, Alani tapped Alyssa on the shoulder to get her attention.

"How's Bianca doing, she still down about what happened to her mom?" She asked with concern.

"She's still taking it pretty hard, I haven't seen her smile since it happened, not even Cyrus has been able to cheer her up," Alyssa replied.

Alani sighed, "I just wish there was more we could do to help her."

Alyssa placed her hand on Alani's tattooed shoulder, "she may not show it, but she really does appreciate all the support she's gotten from you and your team."

Alani smiled at Alyssa before then directing her attention to Bianca, who was keenly observing the current match and not paying any attention to her friends and teammates.

"If she needs anyone else to talk to, let her know I'll listen," Alani replied.

"Will do," Alyssa stated with a smile.

"And that's the match!" Professor Haze announced while rubbing her temples to try and sooth the headache she had.

Nikolas sheathed his short-sword into his round-shield and helped his opponent from the ground, "good match, it was an honor to fight you."

"Alright, one more match before class gets out," Professor Haze stated as the two former combatants made their way back to their seats.

The screen with the student's pictures cycled through all of them for a few moments before landing on the next set of fighters for the class.

"Looks like we'll have Ebony Tacari and Tawney Brown," Professor Haze announced.

Tawney Brown was the fourth and final member of Team STON, and also the only female member of the team. Hailing from a farm in southern Vale, she was always busy helping around there so she never got any formal combat training until she entered her local combat school. Despite this however, in her limited leisure time she took up archery. Due to this she is one of the best shots with a bow in the whole school, routinely splitting arrows while training in the firing range.

Tawney stood from her seat next to her teammates and headed to the elevator that took combatants down to the combat stage, but when she got there, she was alone.

Professor Haze looked around for a moment before then addressing Ebony's team leader, "Alani, where's your teammate?"

"She wasn't feeling too well this morning, so she decided to stay in bed," Alani replied.

"Ok… well I guess we can forgo this last match," Professor Haze said, "before you all go though, I have an announcement," she continued.

Tawney looked a bit disappointed by the news as she made her way back to sit with her team. Many of the students who were beginning to leave the class sat back down and awaited their professor's announcement.

"As you may already know, those who will be chosen to represent Beacon in the Vytal Festival will be leaving at the end of the week…"

Roy leaned over to Alani, "my sister and her team got the news in their combat class this morning, hopefully we get chosen so we can beat them," he whispered.

Alani chuckled quietly as Professor Haze continued to talk.

"I'm letting you know only three first-year teams have been chosen this year by Professors Pine, Ren, myself, and the rest of the combat professors," Professor Haze paused and looked around the room for a moment, "all of those teams are from this class," she added.

After hearing this many of the students got their hopes up very high, and Bianca who had been halfway listening to Professor Haze focused her full attention on her.

"Those teams are, Team AYST, Team BLAC, and Team STON," She announced.

Apollo and Oliver gave one another a high five at hearing this news, while Nikolas patted Tawney on the shoulder lightly and smiled.

"Hell yeah!" Cyrus and Alyssa shouted as they jumped out of their seats and high-fived one another.

"Please, calm down you two," Lucas requested.

"CHEE-HOO!" Alani shouted in excitement, this outburst caused Lucas to wince and then facepalm.

Even though Lucas was happy to have made the cut to go to the Vytal Festival and represent Beacon in the Tournament, his teammates and friend's outbursts did annoy him to a degree. However, he couldn't help but notice that Bianca wasn't sharing in the excitement, still sitting quietly in her seat, he really did feel bad for his leader and felt for what she was going through.

"As for the rest of you, you may not have made the cut this year, but perhaps you will at the next Vytal Festival, class dismissed," Professor Haze stated.

The students made their way out of the classroom. All except Teams AYST, BLAC, and STON seemed disappointed that they wouldn't be able to partake in the Vytal Festival Tournament.

As they left the classroom Alyssa leaned over to the Grey Brothers, "hey guys, look," she whispered.

The three of them noticed that Bianca had a small and nearly invisible smile on her face. They felt happy at their leader's small expression of joy, for it was the first time she had smiled at all since her mother was hospitalized by Roman Torchwick.

"Wow, this is exciting! I can't wait to explore another Kingdom!" Alani exclaimed as she and her team walked out behind Team BLAC.

"Oh yea, other than Vale you haven't been to another Kingdom, have you?" Cyrus inquired after hearing his friend's exclamation.

"Well, I mean Yin and I did stop in Vacuo on our way here, but we didn't get a chance to explore it, since we went straight from our Bullhead to the Airship transporting students to Beacon," she replied.

As the two teams conversed a certain sourness inserted itself into the conversation.

"All y'all gettin' your hopes up for what? My team and I are gonna smash all of y'all in the Tournament," Apollo boasted as he and Oliver walked up behind Teams AYST and BLAC.

"Apollo! Boasting is not the way of the warrior, let your skill speak for you, for that is what the Vytal Tournament is testing," Nikolas cut in.

"Whatever, come on Oliver, let's leave these punks to do whatever they do," Apollo stated as he and Oliver headed to the locker room to get changed.

"Yea, we're sorry about him, he's such an asshole," Tawney apologized as she stood beside her partner Nikolas.

"Thanks, I couldn't even imagine being on a team with those two," Roy said.

"No problem, and since you're wondering, it sucks," Tawney pointed out.

"Yes, yes it does," Nikolas added.

"We feel sorry for you guys, they are very intolerable," Yin stated.

"You don't know the half of it," Tawney replied, "anyway, before we go our separate ways I wanted to say something to Bianca," she continued softly.

"What's up Tawney?" Bianca inquired.

"Nikolas and I heard about your mom, we just wanted to offer our condolences," she said softly.

"Yes, a famous warrior like Ruby Rose doesn't deserve such a fate, our deepest condolences are with you and your mother Weiss," Nikolas added with a respectful bow of his helmeted head.

"Thanks, that really means a lot to me," Bianca replied with a somber smile.

After their conversation with the two respectable members of Team STON and changing back into their uniforms, Teams BLAC and AYST headed back to their dorms for the day and to check up on how Ebony was doing.

As the seven of them walked down the hallway towards their dorms, they noticed the door to Team AYSTs room open and a curvy blonde girl step out.

"Daisy? What are you doing here?" Cyrus asked, as he recognized the girl.

The girl turned noticeably red with embarrassment as the seven students looked at her with confusion. One thing that they all noticed about her was that her normally well-kept hair was not in its normal bun and was hanging freely and slightly messy.

"U-Um…" she stuttered, "Nothing!" She bolted past the seven students.

"Who was she and what was she doing in our room?" Alani asked.

"That was Daisy, she's one of Sonny's hostesses at his diner," Lucas pointed out, "as for what she was doing in your dorm, I have no clue," he continued.

The seven of them approached Team AYSTs dorm and Alani opened the door. They peaked in and saw Ebony lying on her bed covered fully by a blanket. She was lounging back with her arms up behind her head.

When Ebony heard the door open she looked over to see her friends and teammates standing in the doorway, "oh, hey guys… could uh, could you give me a sec?"

"Sure…" Alani closed the door.

Ebony exited her room a few minutes later, she looked tired and happy. Her dreadlocks were hanging freely, not in their normal ponytail, and she wore a royal blue tank top and navy blue athletic shorts with a pair of matching slippers.

"Well you seem to be doing better," Alani pointed out sarcastically while crossing her arms.

"Yeah, hehe… about that, I may have bent the truth a bit about being sick," Ebony said sheepishly as she nervously rubbed the back of her neck.

"You don't say?" Everyone blurted out sarcastically.

"Not exactly, I did have a headache this morning, but after y'all left I took some medicine and felt better within the hour," Ebony replied.

"So then why didn't you go to class?" Bianca inquired.

"Eh," Ebony shrugged, "I was already going to be late, so I made a call and took the day off to have some… fun."

Alani chuckled lightly, "what are we gonna do with you Eb?"

Ebony shrugged at Alani's joking question, "anyway, I miss anything crazy?" She asked as she leaned on the doorframe of Team BLACs dorm.

"Yes actually," Yin said.

"Well, what is it?" Ebony inquired.

Alani stood and walked over to Ebony. When she reached her friend, she placed her hands on her shoulders, "our teams… Got picked to compete in the Vytal Tournament!"

Ebony looked at her leader wide-eyed and full of disbelief, "you're clowning… You're not clowning? I sense clowns," she stated and then looked around the room at her friends and teammates, all of which nodded to confirm what Alani had just told her.

"Nope, we're definitely not clowning," Alyssa stated.

Ebony stepped back into the hall way and the look of disbelief turned to one of joy, "YEAH-HA!" She shouted as she jumped in the air and pumped her fist.

The two teams continued to hang out in Team BLACs room till about an hour till curfew. Team AYST then bid farewell to their friends and headed back into their dorm. After they left Team BLAC began to wind down for the night, getting out of their school clothes and putting on their pajamas.

Bianca grabbed a book off the shelf between her team's bunks to read, as she normally did before bed. She was quite fond of books, her Aunt Blake had shown her many great title's when she was younger, but the main reason she loved books so much is because of her mother Ruby. She used to read her stories of heroes and monsters when she was younger, and now with her mom in a coma, with no one knowing if she'll pull through or not, reading is her way of coping and reminiscing.

Bianca read the first couple of chapters of the book, but she couldn't get into it. She didn't know if it was just disinterest in the book or if she was being distracted by the noise of the Grey Brothers playing the latest release of the Soaring Ninja series, or possibly something else.

Bianca shut her book quite loudly and sighed, "I'm gonna get some air guys."

"You alright B?" Alyssa asked as she removed one of her headphones. The music coming through them was subtle, but one could make it out as a soothing hip-hop beat.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just wanted to get some fresh air before bed," Bianca replied with a halfhearted smile to try and put her cousin at ease.

"You know if you want to talk we're all here for you, and so is Team AYST," Lucas added.

"No, seriously guys, I just want some air, nothing else," Bianca replied to her teammates. She was starting to get a bit annoyed at them for their questioning of her motives at the moment, after all, what was wrong with someone just wanting to get some air before bed.

"Ok, well, just put on a hoodie, its cold out there," Alyssa conceded the conversation to her cousin even though she knew full well this wasn't just about getting some fresh air before bed.

"Way ahead of you," Bianca replied as she slipped on her white hoodie and zipped it most of the way up.

Bianca quickly saw her way out of the room after slipping on a pair of slippers and shut the door behind herself. Her teammates all looked at one another after she left the room, they had a lot of concern for their leader and what she was going through.

"Should one of us go talk to her?" Cyrus asked softly.

"I don't think it will help, she just needs some time right now," Alyssa replied.

The fake smile Bianca had put on her face had faded as she walked down the hallway of her dormitory towards the stairwell that led to the roof. She walked up the stairs to the roof and headed over to the ledge. She leaned on it with her arms and her face buried in them. Perhaps reading wasn't the best idea with the current situation, it brought back happy memories for Bianca, ones of her mother reading to her, but she would always be pulled out of them by the reality of the situation her mother was in. Ruby is strong, one of the best huntresses in Remnant, but even strong people meet their match at some point.

"Why did you do it mom… Why did you have to go and throw yourself into harm's way for my sake?" Bianca began to cry lightly, but behind her sorrow was anger, "Why dammit?! Why! Why! Why!" She pounded her fist on the ledge. Her aura crackled, dampening the blow but she could still feel the impact of her fist on the concrete.

Bianca dropped to her knees and crawled over to the corner of the roof. She pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in them as she cried her heart out, "why wasn't I strong enough… It's my fault you're in the condition you're in… It's all my fault."

Bianca had lost track of the time as she cried, she knew it had been a while as her tears had eventually dried up. As she sat there in sorrow and self-pity, she felt a hand gently ruffle her hair. She looked up and rubbed the tears from her eyes only to catch a glimpse of a woman wrapped in a snow-white cloak like hers, but with a face that resembled her mother's.

"Grandma?" Bianca sniffled as she wiped the tears from her face.

When Bianca looked up at the woman she smiled down at her. Shortly thereafter her body scattered into hundreds of white rose petals and the world around her faded to black. Bianca slowly opened her eyes, she had cried herself to sleep while up on the roof. However, when she awoke she was in her bed, one of her teammates must have carried her back inside after she fell asleep. She looked around the darkened room, all of her teammates were sound asleep in their beds.

That week had gone by very fast for the students who were to make the trip to Mistral. Sixteen teams had been chosen to compete in the Vytal Tournament, but more than those sixty-four students were leaving Beacon for Haven. Twenty-five more teams of students were making the journey as well, but they wouldn't be competing in the tournament, they were just going for the opportunity to watch the tournament in-person and experience the festivities.

The day was Saturday and all of the students leaving for Mistral were making some last-minute preparations for the journey. Meanwhile, Professor Pine was meeting with his inner circle in his clockwork office. All were present, including three others attending the meeting via videocall, Professor Neptune Vasilias; Headmaster of Haven Academy, General Winter Schnee; Headmistress of Atlas Academy, and Professor Nebula Violette; Headmistress of Shade Academy.

"What do you mean you've lost track of the Maiden… Again!?" Winter shouted through the screen, "I mean seriously, how could you be this incompetent Oscar!?" Unlike the remaining members of Oscar's circle and those of his extended group, Winter was very formal, only using first names with them when she was angry.

"Winter please," Neptune cut in, "we don't need any shouting right now."

"I concur, let Oscar speak," Nebula added.

Oscar leaned forward in his seat and interlocked his fingers, "After the battle at the docks, all trace of her disappeared, the only possible lead we had on her whereabouts was Doctor Merlot and he's missing as well."

"Well that's just great, we're back to square one… unless someone else has any leads," Winter remarked.

"Actually… I may have one," Neptune cut in.

"Really!? What is it!?" Calypso jumped into the conversation out of nowhere.

Oscar looked at Calypso and she quickly jumped back from her outburst, "my apologies, please continue."

"Thank you. My agents have been keeping track of a recently founded religious organization called 'The Church of the Holy Maidens.' Until about six months ago they have been a very small group, only a handful of members within the City of Mistral itself, but recently their following has exploded."

"Why do you think that is?" Nebula inquired.

"Well you see, around that time the organization's founder died of some rather mysterious causes and a man by the name of Albus Wolfe took over as Arch Deacon. He is a rather zealous man and claims not only to carry the word of the religion's gods… the Four Maidens, but he claims to have actually spoken with one," Neptune stated.

"If that's true then we may have found our Summer Maiden," Nebula thought to herself.

"It's a one in four shot hermana, we may not want to jump to conclusions," Adrián pointed out to the group.

"True, but we should keep track of this organization nonetheless…" Oscar paused, "Winter, I think you should accompany Professor Coal and your students to Mistral under the guise of providing security for the Festival, if something goes down we may need the Atlesian Army ready to go."

"I agree one-hundred percent," Winter replied. "Neptune could you convince the Mistral Council to allow such a thing?" She continued.

"You bet I can snow-angel," Neptune replied half suavely. Winter scowled at Neptune through her screen as he chuckled lightly too himself, he may be able to get away with calling the younger Schnee sister names like that, but the older sister wasn't having any of it.

"Any who… I think that will do for now, we should reconvene if anything else comes to the surface," Oscar stated.

"Agreed," Nebula, Neptune, and Winter replied in unison and then one by one they disconnected from the video call.

Oscar leaned back in his chair and let out a large and audible sigh. Over the past few weeks he had lost more color in his hair from the stresses of his job, not only running the academy, but also organizing the kingdom's huntsmen and most of all the search for the Summer Maiden.

"What am I doing wrong?" Oscar asked himself as he rubbed his forehead to try and relieve the stress that had been building up in his body.

"Have you tried to speak with Ozpin recently, maybe he would have some insight on the situation," Blake inquired.

Oscar took in a deep breath before speaking. The stress in his body over the situation surrounding the Summer Maiden has been building and building since he lost track of her over five years ago, and just when he thought he had found her, she disappeared again.

"I've tried… countless times, but ever since we defeated Salem it's been silent. No matter how much I try to contact him or switch places, there's nothing. I still have all his… our powers and memories, but I guess it's just safe to say that we've fully assimilated into one another, I'm no longer a man with two souls."

Oscar's circle stood in silence around him. While they had known he hadn't been able to speak to his predecessor in a long while, it didn't make that fact any easier to stomach. This was especially hard for Ren and Blake whom had both known Ozpin personally. The initial loss of their mentor was eased when they found out he was still here in spirit, but in the end, it was hard for those who had knew Ozpin to deal with his loss, especially for a second time.

"You five may leave now if you wish," Oscar said as he turned his chair, so he faced away from his group.

"Yes sir, if you need us don't hesitate to call," Calypso said.

"No worries, I won't," Oscar replied from behind his chair.

After the meeting Ember Haze left Beacon for the day and headed into Vale. She didn't stop off in the commercial district to go to her preferred drinking establishment and crack the heads of some local tough guys, instead she headed to the coast.

She stepped off the Bullhead that she had been riding and walked up the street a few blocks. She came up to a little hole-in-the-wall establishment called the "Crow Bar". She walked up to the counter and took a seat on one of the barstools, it was soft and smooth, yet firm as well.

The man behind the counter had his back turned. He had brown hair and was wearing the stereotypical "bartender's outfit". He turned as he heard one of the barstools be pulled out from the counter, it must have been a slow day as he had been straightening out the bottles behind the counter to make them look nice.

As the man turned a picture he had on the shelf was shown. It had two men, one was himself, and the other was an older gentleman with similarly colored hair but graying slightly at the sides. The two men also had very similar faces, save for one thing, the older man sported a mustache while the younger one did not. One other difference was that the old man had a green bowtie while the younger man wore a regular tie, also colored green.

"Oh, hey there Em, I wasn't expecting you… thought you'd be off to Mistral already," the bartender said.

Ember chuckled lightly, "No Jamie, I don't leave till tomorrow morning. I just figured I'd surprise my fiancé at work is all."

Jamie chuckled lightly at Ember, "and you have, so… can I get you anything Em? Martini? Mojito? Strawberry Sunrise perhaps?"

"I'm not trying to drink too much tonight, big day tomorrow and all, I think I'll have an Old Fashioned though," Ember replied.

"Alright, one Old Fashioned coming right up," Jamie replied.

Ember watched Jamie as he made her drink, she watched him with fondness in her eyes. James 'Jamie' Black III, the son of the former owner of this establishment, and her husband to be. 'Ember Black', the two words rang in her head continuously, she liked the sound of it and even if she didn't she would still have said yes to the man.

"Here's your drink Em, on the house as always," Jamie said as he set the drink in front of Ember.

"Thanks," Ember replied as she picked up the drink and proceeded to take a sip.

Jamie and Ember go way back. They had met during her time at Beacon, when she and her team had acquired fake IDs and went bar hopping one night. The two had grown into close friends during Ember's tenure as a student, and even more so when her teammates returned to their homes after graduation. The two eventually fell in love after a tumultuous time that almost saw Jamie lose his life.

Ember set her empty glass down on the counter, "so, how much longer do you think you'll be?"

"I don't know, if the day stays slow then I'll close up early. The night rush normally starts around six, so I'll wait till then, if it doesn't pick up then I'll close up and head home," Jamie replied.

Ember reached up and grabbed Jamie by his tie catching him somewhat by surprise. She pulled him into a passionate kiss and he kissed back. After a few tender moments they separated from one another.

"You get home early and there's more where that came from," Ember flirted.

Ember stood from the barstool and proceeded to walk out of the bar, swaying her hips flirtatiously as she did.

Jamie looked on at his fiancé a bit dumbstruck, but he soon composed himself and snickered lightly.

"Who did I please in a past life to deserve a woman like her?" He asked himself.

By early afternoon the next day, the airship transporting students from Vale to Mistral, was within sight of the Anima coastline. They had left early in the morning, just after dawn in fact, and had another three hours till they reached the City of Mistral and Haven Academy. The trip to Mistral was long and tiresome, several of the students had fallen asleep in some of the seats within the airship, while others attempted to pass the time by talking or playing games.

Alyssa Xiao Long, who wasn't a morning person whatsoever had slept through most of the trip. However, as they approached the coastline of Anima she awoke and sensed someone leaning against her shoulder and head. She sensed the person had a long coat on, which meant it could be one of two people she knew; however, she didn't sense a breast plate of any kind on the person which narrowed it down.

"Comfy there Roy?" Alyssa asked cheekily while lightly poking him in the side.

Roy awoke slightly before he noticed who he was leaning on. As soon as he noticed a huge blush came over his face and he jumped away from the blonde cat-faunus.

"Ah… uh, sorry," he said nervously.

Alyssa giggled at the boy's nervousness, "you're fine."

As the two of them began to talk, their respective team leaders Bianca and Alani had watched the scene go down and laughed slightly at the whole thing.

"You know it really seems like those two have been getting a lot closer over the past few weeks," Bianca commented.

"Yea, it has. Speaking of which, what's going on between you and Cyrus, are you two dating or anything?" Alani asked.

"Eh! What?! Nonono. It's nothing like that, we're just friends, that's all," Bianca blurted out.

"Come on, everyone can see that you like him, why don't you ask him out?" Alani inquired.

Bianca looked around for a moment to see if Cyrus was near, when she saw he was on the other side of the airship and well out of audible range, she leaned towards Alani and she did the same.

"I'm not very good at talking to guys in that way. Besides, I don't know if he likes me… like what if I ask him and he doesn't see me that way?" Bianca stated quietly.

"You're overthinking things. Do you remember when Yin and I told you about how we came to be together? I had a crush on him and I wasn't sure he liked me either, but then he came out and told me he liked me. You should at least try to ask him, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised," Alani said.

"I just don't know, with everything that's happened as of recent, I feel like that's the last thing that should be on my mind," Bianca replied.

Alani looked to the floor and nodded slightly before looking her friend in the eyes, "still down about what happened to your mom I take it?"

"Yeah…" Bianca replied somberly.

Alani placed her hand on Bianca's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, "I know what you're going through is hard, but you shouldn't dwell on it. What happened has happened, there's no going back. At this point it's out of your hands, all you can really do is hope for the best and live your life. Don't let this one thing keep you from experiencing happiness."

Bianca didn't reply to her friend, she just looked away from Alani causing her to get a look of disappointment upon her face. Alani truly wanted to help her friend through this tough time in her life, but Bianca would need to accept her assistance for it to help.

As the airship was making its way over the coast, two soldiers were watching the ship, however the armor they wore was not that of the Mistralese Self Defense Forces or the Atlesian Army. Their armor looked like a modern version of ancient knight's armor.

"What do you see?" One soldier asked the other.

"Contact command, Beacon's students have just arrived over Anima's coast," the other soldier replied.

"Yes sir," the first soldier saluted.

The soldier then headed back to his camp where several others were. The camp was makeshift, like the soldiers that called it home wouldn't be there long before heading on their way. After reaching the camp, the soldier headed to a tent that contained the camp's radio and contacted his commanders to inform them of the situation.

Somewhere else on the continent was a hidden base, full of hundreds of soldiers, most of which were diligently working or training. The base was huge, not only did it hold hundreds of soldiers, but it also held a few airships of different classification and several dozen Bullhead transports. All of which were being maintained by the soldiers.

A man walked through the base towards a semi-tall building at one end, as he past several soldiers they stopped what they were doing, stood at attention, and saluted him. He would quickly salute them back before continuing on his way. He entered the building and rode an elevator up to the top floor where he proceeded down a hallway and then into a large open room.

The room had a long mahogany table in it with several chairs around it, like one someone would use for meetings. Along the wall were a few paintings and small bookshelves. The books on said shelves were mainly those of the many fairytales of Remnant, but there were also several books on the many famous battles fought by the four kingdoms and their predecessors.

The man's quick entry into the room caused one of the occupants to raise their weapon to his throat, a serrated leaf bladed sword. Once the person realized who it was they lowered their weapon and allowed the man entry.

"Herr Jet, vhere are your manners?" The man asked while rubbing his throat to make sure it wasn't cut.

"My apologies Rommel," Jet replied apathetically.

"Hey Rommel!" A girl in white with long black hair called out.

"Hello, Fraulein Nilah," Rommel replied.

The man walked through the room towards a balcony that overlooked the base. As he exited the room he was met by the sight of a young woman with a faux hawk leaning on the guardrail looking out over the base.

"Mein lady," Rommel said with a bow.

"Ah, what a pleasant surprise, Field Marshal Berg, how have you been?" The woman asked.

"Fine, mein lady, I bring some news for you," Rommel replied.

"What news is this?" Rouge asked.

"Zee transport from Beacon has been spotted off zee coast of Anima, it looks to arrive in Mistral vithin two hours," he said.

"Good, that makes all three transports accounted for," Rouge paused for a moment, "Rommel, tell the men to proceed to phase two."

"Yes, mein lady," Rommel replied and then left Rouge alone on the balcony.

Rouge looked out over the base and down to her soldiers… her crusaders and she smiled with confidence. All the pieces were beginning to fall into place.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Mistral

Mistral was well within sight of the Beacon Students. It was a magnificent city built vertically on twin peaks and at the very top sat Haven Academy. Like how Beacon's spires made it look like a fortress of the western fashion, Haven was a spectacular oriental bastion of safety and security for the people of the Kingdom. The city really made the term "Mistral wasn't built in a day" hit home, it truly did look the part of the capital of a once vast continent-spanning empire. In spite of conflict both ancient and recent, the city has persisted, it truly was eternal.

Ebony looked out the window and down upon the city, "Mistral… home sweet home."

After looking out over the city, she pulled out her scroll and swiped through her contacts till she came upon one with the name "Kim," and she hit the 'message' button.

"We'll be landing soon, you think you can make it up to Haven?" Ebony wrote in her message and then sent it.

Almost immediately a reply came, "I have some work to get done right now, but I'll be there as soon as I can babe."

Professor Haze stood at the front of the airship's cabin where the students were going about killing the last bit of time it would take to get to Haven Academy.

"Ahem, everyone listen up please," she said, gaining the near immediate attention of all the students. "There are a few things you need to know about our trip and how the tournament is going to work. Firstly, while on campus grounds you will be required to wear your uniform at most times, the exceptions being the obvious; sleeping, training, and so on… it's the same rules as Beacon. Also, if you venture into the city, try to stay in the upper and mid-levels, the lower down in the city you go, the less safe it gets. Next, this is for the Faunus students here…"

The first part of the statement caught Alyssa's attention, as she had only been halfway listening to her professor like she normally did. She knew the campus rules and she felt if she ventured into the lower areas of Mistral she could handle herself if she got into trouble.

"In recent years Mistral hasn't been kind to your people, so I urge you to remain with your teams or at the very least your partners at all times, and watch your surroundings extra carefully." she continued.

Alyssa shrugged off her professor's warning. While she had heard about the war between Humanity and the Faunus within Mistral she didn't think much of it as she felt it wouldn't really be a problem for her. However, her friend Yin nodded in acknowledgment of Professor Haze's warning, after all the Civil War was the very reason his family had fled the kingdom nearly eighteen years ago. Several of the other faunus students had worrisome looks on their faces, but they were consoled and reassured by their teammates.

"Finally, you should know that not all of you will be participating in the main Vytal Tournament," Professor Haze stated.

This statement caused an outcry among the students, many were surprised, and others felt deceived or even angry. It was clear that most of the students had never competed in the tournament before and weren't aware of how it worked.

Bianca turned to her teammates, they all looked upset and confused like the rest of the students. When she looked to Team AYST, she saw they were the same. However, when she looked to Team SSGE as well as the other fourth-year teams and some third-years as well, they didn't seem fazed by the news.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" A voice shouted from the back of the airship cabin.

"Apollo please!" Nikolas scolded.

"Before you all decide to skin me alive, here me out," Professor Haze said with a bit of a nervous chuckle.

The commotion kicked up by the students died down for now, although some still didn't look happy. Many of them thought what was the point of selecting sixteen teams worth of students if not all of them would get the chance to participate in the Vytal Tournament?

"The sixteen teams that were selected by myself and the other combat professors were so because we believed you to be 'the best of the best.' However, in order to have the best chance of winning the Vytal Tournament you need to be 'the best of the best of the best.'" Professor Haze paused and looked around the cabin at the students, those who had been making a commotion then grew to understand why they were selected if they may not participate in the main tournament. They would need to prove themselves once more if they were to participate.

"With that being said, qualifying matches will be held over the next two weeks among the teams here. From there, the top eight will earn spots in the Vytal Tournament. Just know that the students from Atlas and Shade will be doing the same," Professor Haze continued.

Professor Haze noticed a raised hand in the back of the cabin as she finished informing the students of the impending qualifying rounds of the tournament.

"Yes, Tawney, you have a question?" Professor Haze inquired.

"Yea, you said Atlas and Shade will also be conducting qualifiers at the same time as us. I was wondering, what about Haven?" Tawney Brown asked as she stood from her seat.

"Since Haven is hosting the event, I'm sure they've already conducted their qualifiers and selected their eight teams," Professor Haze replied.

With her inquiry answered, Tawney sat back down in her seat accepting the answer she had been given. It made sense to her and most everyone else that Mistral would have already conducted their qualifiers for the tournament in order to get a leg up on the competition.

"Well that's certainly an interesting development," Cyrus remarked to his teammates.

"Mhmm," Lucas replied in his characteristic nonchalant tone. The rest of his team chuckled lightly at his blasé response.

The airship made its landing approach towards Haven's docks. After the ship landed the door was opened and the students gathered their things and headed out. With suitcases in hand, backpacks strapped, and weapons holstered, the students entered Haven Academy with their professor following closely behind. The academy had magnificent pagoda style buildings and towers, even its CCT Tower was built in the style.

Waiting for the Beacon students at the docks were four individuals dressed in the Haven Academy uniform; a black jacket with a light gray outline around the edges, a white undershirt and a white band around the student's left arm. While the male uniform has black trousers, the female uniform has a black and gray checkered skirt. The first was a tiger faunus girl with red hair and what appeared to be tiger-stripe tattoos on her neck and hands, that seemed to continue further under her uniform. However, the most notable thing about her was that she possessed the rare trait of silver eyes.

"Welcome to Haven Academy, my name is Sierra Nahla, the leader of Team SLVR (Silver)," she and her teammates bowed with a fist-palm salute. "As fourth-year students, Professor Vasilias requested that my team and I show you to where you'll be staying during your time here."

One by one each of her teammates stepped forward to introduce themselves. First it was a large dark-skinned man with a frohawk, he was slightly taller than Cyrus and a bit bigger build wise as well. "Russell Zeffre-Aero, it's a pleasure to meet you all," he said.

The next was a jerboa faunus girl with medium length blue hair, matching jerboa ears, and a fanny pack on the front of her waist. "My name's Violet Blu, welcome to our academy."

The final member of Sierra's team to introduce themselves was a boy who looked like Lucas' Mistralese doppelganger. Height and build wise they were nearly identical, and they also possessed the same messy haircut, albeit this boy's hair was black, not gray. "Name's Luke Taiji, I am pleased to meet all of you," he bowed.

Professor Haze was back at the exit of the airship making sure all the students got off. As the last of them exited the ship, she walked to the front of her group of students, taking a quick drink from her calabash as she did so.

"Ember?" Someone called out her name.

Professor Haze looked in the direction of the voice and her eyes landed on Sierra and the rest of Team SLVR. She chuckled while capping her calabash and affixing it to her belt.

"It is you, what'd you get held back two years?" Sierra asked sarcastically.

"Nah, I'm a professor now," she replied.

"You, a professor? I never could've pictured it," Sierra replied.

"The check was fat," Ember joked.

The two women walked up to one another and greeted each other with a forearm handshake and a smile.

"It's been too long," Sierra said.

"Two years, right? 51st Vytal Festival if I'm not mistaken?" Ember inquired.

"Yup, that final match was a tough one. You up for a rematch sometime?" Sierra asked.

"Maybe," Ember smiled.

"Anyway, lets catch up later, my team and I have to train, and we still haven't shown you to your rooms," Sierra said.

Ember nodded with a small smile and motioned for her students to follow Team SLVR and herself.

Haven Academy was smaller than Beacon area wise, considering it was built on the top of a mountain, but it seemed like there were just as many people and buildings stuffed into this small space. At Beacon it would take about ten to fifteen minutes to walk from the docks to the dorms and vice versa, but it only took the students and their escorts around eight or so minutes to reach the dorms they were staying in at Haven.

"Alright, this is where you'll be staying," Sierra turned to face the Beacon students. "Your rooms will be labeled with your team names, as for you Ember, you'll have a room to yourself. It'll be labeled as well," she continued.

"What are we supposed to do with our weapons and gear?" A student asked.

"You may keep them in your rooms for the duration of your stay, you may not however carry them while on campus unless you are headed to Combat Class or a Tournament Match," Russell said.

"Well, that answers that, let's get settled," Alyssa threw her gold and black duffle bag over her shoulder and strode into the dormitory.

The dormitory the students would be staying in wasn't as new as most others, but it was well maintained. The interior matched the exterior in its oriental stylings with its rounded entranceways and beautiful carved statues. Through a rice paper doorway was a rec room equipped in much the same manner as the one the students from Beacon had in their dormitories; arcades and game consoles, couches and lounge chairs around holo-TVs, and various table games like billiards and foosball.

"Please make yourselves at home, someone will deliver your class schedules later today," Sierra said.

"Remember, we're guests representing our academy so don't tear the place up," Ember stated.

The various teams made their way through the building looking for their rooms. Team SSGE's dorm was located on the first floor while Teams BLAC and AYST eventually found their rooms on the top floor of the dormitory.

Their rooms were located next to one another rather than across the hall from each other. However, just across the hall from Team AYST's dorm was Team STON's. Back at Beacon Team STON was housed in a completely different dormitory all the way on the other side of campus. While Teams BLAC and AYST didn't mind Tawney or Nikolas, in fact they actually liked them and considered them friends, neither team could stand Apollo or Oliver. Being situated across the hall from Team STON was bittersweet to say the least.

Alyssa opened the sliding rice paper door and her team entered the room they would be staying in for the next month and a half. The room was slightly larger than their old one back at Beacon. However, it lacked a few things of their old dorm; they no longer had their own bathroom and there was slightly less storage space, but the beds had drawers built into the bottom like their bunks back at Beacon. Also, unlike their dorm back at Beacon, it only had small wall mounted shelves for the storage of books, as opposed to the long multiple level bookshelf between their normal bunks.

"Hmm, no bunk beds," Lucas said as he looked upon the four single beds arrayed along the back wall of the room.

"You think we can jerry-rig some?" Cyrus asked.

"With what, books and rope?" Lucas asked condescendingly.

Cyrus just stared at his brother with an annoyed look that said, "don't patronize me."

"Well, let's get unpacked," Bianca said.

Getting unpacked here wouldn't take as long as it did when Team BLAC did so at Beacon. Since they were only going to be here for a little over a month they didn't bring all that many items, only the essentials and a handful of other things like a few books, games, and such.

After getting unpacked, Bianca grabbed the book she had been reading. However, as she was about to pick up where she left off she felt her stomach growl.

"Is anyone else hungry?" Bianca placed her hand on her stomach.

"I could go for something to eat," Lucas replied.

"Same," Alyssa stated.

"Alright, well, let's head out," Bianca stood from her bed.

As most of Team BLAC was making their way to the door, Lucas noticed that his brother was not with them.

"Hey bro, you coming? Cyrus?" Lucas looked to his brother.

In the few minutes between getting unpacked and the rest of the team deciding to go get something to eat, Cyrus had dozed off on his bed.

"Huh? What? What's going on?" Cyrus jumped.

Lucas snickered, "come on, we're going out to eat."

"Food? Hold up, I'm coming," Cyrus pulled himself out of bed.

"If there's one thing that can wake you're brother up, it's food," Alyssa giggled.

"You guys wanna hit the cafeteria or go into town?" Bianca asked.

"Town," her teammates replied in unison.

"We should see if Eb knows any good places," Alyssa said.

"Sounds like a plan," Cyrus replied.

Team BLAC left their dorm and walked over to Team AYSTs to see if they wanted to come along and if Ebony knew any good places to eat. But, when Lucas knocked on the door there was no answer from their friends.

"Huh, they must've left," Lucas said.

"We'll manage," Alyssa shrugged.

Team BLAC left the dormitory and began to walk through Haven's campus. There were many students from all the academies checking out the campus. The highly regimented students from Atlas already had their gray and white uniforms on and looked very serious, while the students from Beacon and Vacuo were hanging around and having a good time.

The way Haven was built, someone could quickly and easily reach the city by walking, whereas at Beacon, it required a Bullhead to reach the city from the academy.

As Team BLAC continued to make their way through the academy and towards town, they passed by the students that had escorted them to their dormitory, Team SLVR.

All four were standing next to one another under a cherry blossom tree, and were dressed in martial arts Gis. They were moving around in circular fluid motions, like leaves in the wind, not once coming into contact with one another. After a few of these fluid motions they would all stomp the ground and punch the air in perfect unison.

"I wish we had that kind of coordination," Bianca said.

"We'll get there eventually B, they're fourth-years so they've had more than enough time to get comfortable fighting around one another," Alyssa stated.

"Yea, we've definitely got room to grow. As long as we keep working together we'll be fine and especially if we stand behind our fearless leader," Cyrus patted Bianca on the back.

"Heh heh, yeah…" Bianca hesitated.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Cyrus exclaimed, "we should come up with team attacks."

"Team attacks?" His teammates questioned.

"You know, like double teams," he stated.

"Oh, so you mean where two of us attack an opponent then?" Alyssa inquired.

"Exactly," Cyrus pointed his hands.

"Okay… what did you have in mind then?" Bianca asked.

"Alright. So, I got the idea back during our combat midterm after Lucas hit Bianca with his speed glyph, I haven't quite figured out most of them other than Lucas and Bianca's though," Cyrus said.

"So, what's ours then?" Lucas asked.

"It's basically what you guys did in the combat midterm, you hit Bianca with your speed glyph, then while she's slashing her opponent to ribbons, you shoot them with your bow," Cyrus stated.

"It sounds like it could work," Bianca stated.

"I mean the speed glyph part worked against Roy, it completely negated his semblance," Lucas said.

"I'm in on the idea," Alyssa jumped in.

"Agreed," Lucas added.

"We should come up with names for them, so we know what to do quickly," Bianca said.

"Time is always of the essence in a fight," Lucas stated.

Team BLAC continued on their journey to fill their bellies while they discussed more about their new potential team attacks. While they talked they eventually found their way into town. The area of Mistral just outside the Academy was ritzy, and in the Grey Brother's experiences, and opinions, the best food was mostly found in less affluent areas.

The people of the upper districts seemed a bit snobby and not concerned with the lives of the common people, albeit not as much as those in Atlas. As Team BLAC headed down the districts of Mistral the people appeared less and less affluent as was expected. They eventually reached the middle districts. This area reminded them of downtown Vale; the bustling streets and markets, the street performers, and above all else, the smell of the local cuisine.

"So, let's say we hit up one of the street vendors," Cyrus said.

"Eh, I kinda wanna sit down and eat some place," Lucas objected.

"Same," Alyssa replied.

Bianca scanned the surrounding area for a sit-down restaurant of which surprisingly there weren't many. However, after a few moments her eyes landed on one.

"Hey, what about that place? Hong's House of Ramen and Sushi." Bianca pointed to the restaurant.

"Sushi? Heck yes!" Alyssa exclaimed.

After a moment of looking over the building, Bianca noticed a sign on the wall. However, before she could say something, her cousin took off in a fast jog towards the restaurant. Lucas and Cyrus noticed it as well, but there was little either of the brothers could do.

"Alyssa wait!" Bianca called out, but to no avail.

Alyssa ceased her jog and opened the door to the restaurant and a bell dinged as it opened, she next sensed a young woman kneeling behind a podium, most likely the hostess of the establishment.

"Sorry, just one moment, I dropped something," she stood, "welcome to Hong's House of Ramen and Su…shi," her voice trailed off as she saw Alyssa.

"Hello, I'd like a table for four please," Alyssa smiled.

"Um… I'm sorry ma'am, b…but we're full at the m…moment," the girl stuttered.

Alyssa's cat ears twitched as she sensed several open tables, most with plenty of room to accommodate her team and herself.

"What about that one?" she pointed to an open booth.

The hostess was taken by surprise by Alyssa's action. She had noticed Alyssa's eyes and she figured she was blind, an assumption she was right about, but she hadn't figured this girl could sense things.

"Uh… I'm sorry, I'll be right back," the girl hurried off.

"Huh, weird," Alyssa said.

The rest of Team BLAC entered the restaurant and quickly rushed up to their faunus teammate.

"Alyssa, we should go, now," Lucas grabbed her arm.

"What's the big deal? Is there something on my face or something?" Alyssa asked.

Alyssa's cat ears twitched as she overheard a conversation between the hostess and someone else, possibly the manager or owner.

"Um, Mr. Hong, sir…" the hostess said.

"Yes, what is it?" The man inquired.

"There's this person, at the front, I… I need some help with it," the hostess said timidly.

"Oh god, it's not the Yakuza is it?" The man asked frantically.

"No, it's a girl… a faunus girl," she said.

"Ugh, filthy animals, can she not read or something?" The man inquired.

"That's just it, I think she may be blind," the girl stated.

"Alright… since it's only your second day, I won't make you do this," the man said.

The hostess came back out to the front of the restaurant where Team BLAC was standing, she was escorted by an older Mistralese gentleman. He was short, even more so than Bianca. He had a stern look about his face when he arrived to see Alyssa and her teammates.

"I'm going to have to ask the four of you to leave please," he said sternly.

"Of course, right away," Bianca tugged on Alyssa's coat and attempted to leave.

"Wait, what? What did we do, we just walked in here?" Alyssa questioned.

"Alyssa, shush and come on, you're making a scene," Cyrus said.

"Don't shush me," Alyssa turned to her teammate and then back to the man, "excuse me sir, there has obviously been some misunderstanding here, you see my friends and I aren't from here, all we want to do is get something to eat."

The man chuckled, "there's your problem. You see, my establishment doesn't serve cat food."

Alyssa looked a bit confused by this statement, of course she didn't expect them to serve cat food, she wasn't sure what he meant by that.

People both inside and outside the restaurant had begun to stare by this point. Some with general concern about what was going on, but most had their attention focused on Team BLAC and possessed looks of absolute malice on their faces.

"Seriously Alyssa, let's go," Bianca said.

"Um, sir, forgive me, but I'm a bit confused, could you…" Alyssa was cut off.

"I said get out of my establishment you filthy disgusting animal!" The man shouted.

"Hey! You don't talk to my cousin like that!" Bianca got in the man's face.

"I don't serve faunus or faunus loving humans in my restaurant, so, Get. Out. Now." The man said.

Alyssa's eyes reddened and she balled her fists. She shook herself free of the grips of her friends and walked up to the man, who didn't seem scared whatsoever. As she stepped into the man's face she heard a clicking sound and then felt something cold and metal press against her exposed midriff. She sensed it, a snub-nosed revolver, cocked and ready to fire was pressed against her stomach.

"Come any closer and your guts will be splattered all over your friends," the man threatened.

Alyssa smirked, "do it then."

"Mr. Hong sir, please put it away," the hostess whispered.

The man tightened his grip on the handle and trigger of his pistol, all the while staring down Alyssa stoically. Alyssa too didn't seem fazed, she knew her aura would disintegrate the bullet upon impact.

Alyssa then felt herself be yanked very hard away from the man and drug out of the restaurant. She noticed it was Cyrus who had grabbed her by the bicep and pulled her out of the building.

"What the hell man!?" Alyssa freed herself from her teammate's grip, "I could've taken him."

"I know you could've, but how would it look if a student from Beacon assaulted an elderly man?" Cyrus retorted.

"That racist piece of shit pulled a gun on me!" Alyssa exclaimed.

"Look! We tried to get your attention, there's a sign right next to the front door that says 'no faunus', if you would've stopped and listened we could've avoided this whole thing!" Cyrus shouted.

Before Alyssa could get a word in Cyrus continued, "and even if he had shot you, he could claim self-defense, because who knows who else in there were racist pigs. Who do you really think the authorities would believe? A bunch of kids from Vale or Mistralese Citizens?"

Alyssa looked speechless as she stared at her angry teammate. She could tell his anger wasn't from hate, but from concern for her wellbeing. She didn't try to say anything and just turned and headed back in the direction she and her team had come from.

"Hey, where are you going?" Bianca called out.

"Guys, make sure she gets back to Haven ok, I'll get us some take-out and meet you back at the dorm," Cyrus said.

The two of them nodded in agreement and headed off after their teammate, all the while Cyrus watched them go. As he turned to head into the market to look for something to eat, he noticed the racist elderly man staring at him smugly. Cyrus flipped the guy the bird before heading on his way.

"I fuckin hate racists," Cyrus mumbled.

As Cyrus headed off to get food, Rouge was watching him and had seen the whole incident go down. She had a look of intrigue on her face as she watched Cyrus get lost in a crowd of people.

"Hmm, he may yet be redeemable," she said.

Her scroll rang, "yes?"

"My lady, Albus Wolfe has arrived and is waiting for you," the voice on the other side of the call said.

"Inform Mr. Wolfe I'll be with him soon," Rouge said.

"Yes, my lady," the voice replied, and the call was ended.

Back at Haven, Professor Haze was making her way to the headmaster's office. There were a few students and professors in the hall she walked through, but for the most part it was empty. As she walked through the hall she was speaking to Jamie on her scroll.

"Sorry I didn't call sooner, I had to unpack and now I'm on my way to meet with Professor Vasilias," she said.

"No need to apologize, you're a huntress and a professor, I understand you'll be busy at times," Jaime replied.

"Thanks honey," Ember said.

"No problem," Jamie stated, "so, tell me about Mistral, has it changed much since you've last been there?"

"Well, it's no longer a warzone, if that's what you're asking," Ember said.

"I mean, other than that," Jamie replied.

"Well, I haven't gotten a chance to take a look around town yet, so I can't really say," Ember said.

"Fair enough," Jamie said.

"Anyway, how's your day been?" Ember asked.

"It's been ok, although I had a bit of a panic attack this morning," Jamie replied.

"Are you ok?" Ember inquired.

"Yeah, I'm fine now, it's just I looked at the calendar when I woke up and I saw it was the first of the month and I had a bit of a flashback is all," Jamie stated.

"About Reed?" Ember asked.

"Yeah, but then I remembered that got dealt with two years ago," Jamie nervously chuckled.

"Honey, you'll be fine," Ember said calmly, "we went through a traumatic experience, you more so. Memories like that don't just go away overnight."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Jamie replied, "anyway, you're probably really busy right now so I'll let you go."

"Ok, I'll talk to you later. I love you, bye," Ember said.

"I love you too," Jamie replied.

Ember closed her scroll as she turned the corner that led to Professor Vasilias' office. There was a rather large Atlesian Soldier guarding the door to the office. The soldier was bigger than any Ember had ever seen, standing nearly eight feet tall and covered head to toe in armor. The armor the soldier wore wasn't the standard Atlesian military armor though, it was far more high-tech and solid looking. The helmet fully enclosed the soldier's head and possessed a pair of blue tinted polycarbonate eye slits.

As Ember approached the door, the large soldier stepped in her way. The soldier didn't say a thing, he just stood there and stared at the shorter woman. Meanwhile, Ember was getting a strange feeling about the soldier, a feeling of dread, something she hadn't felt since the aftermath of the battle at the Vale Docks.

"I need to pass by buddy, I'm late for a meeting," Ember said.

The soldier said nothing in return and continued to block Ember's way. After a moment he pressed his fingers to the side of his helmet and then nodded his head. He stepped aside and let her pass.

The door creaked slightly as Ember entered the rustic office. It hadn't changed much in design and layout since the time of Professor Lionheart; walls lined with bookshelves, a central desk flanked to its left by a couch, chair, and coffee table complete with a tea set, and a large window at the rear of the room overlooking Mistral. Three individuals populated the room, two in Atlesian military garb to the right of the desk and one sitting behind it. The sitting man was Professor Neptune Vasilias, he wore a red suit over a white dress shirt and black tie, and with polished black dress shoes. His light-blue hair was combed back into a neat undercut.

One of the individuals in Atlesian dress turned towards the door as Ember entered the room, she was a woman in at least her mid-fifties, "Ah, Professor Haze, nice of you to join us."

Her presence was ever imposing, her slate-blue eyes seemed to stare right through Ember as she walked into the room. Her uniform was finely pressed and worn without a piece out of place. Some say she is the most powerful person on Remnant, being in charge of both a Huntsman Academy and the Atlesian Military, but she knew otherwise.

Professor Haze strode up to the desk, "it's nice to see you too Winter."

"I'd prefer it if you called me by my official title," Winter replied sternly.

"I don't ever remember James being formal with the members of Ozpin's circle," Neptune cut in.

"Well, I'm not General Ironwood," Winter stated.

"Ahem, sorry to intrude, but shouldn't we be discussing the matter at hand," the man next to Winter said.

This man in question was Major Marcus Stallion, Winter's right hand and commander of the Atlas Specialists. While he didn't possess the imposing presence of his superior, the way he presented and carried himself demanded upmost respect.

"Right," Neptune interjected, "Ember, please join us, Winter err… General Schnee was just about to inform me of the measures she will be taking to keep this event safe."

Ember sat on the couch next to Neptune's desk and kicked her feet up on the coffee table, "well, lay it on us."

Winter shot Ember a scornful look before then pulling out her scroll and placing it on Neptune's desk. A three-dimensional hologram of Mistral, Haven, and Amity Colosseum appeared from the scroll, "after discussions with the MSDF and Mistral Council, I've decided that a single airship and a contingent of five hundred soldiers, one hundred fifty knights, and ten specialists would be adequate to cover all event sites within the city and academy, plus security in the colosseum."

"Don't you think that's a little much?" Ember asked, "I mean, Mistral's been at peace for what… three years now."

"Two," Neptune stated.

"It's not enough," Marcus added.

"That's correct Major," Winter said, "due to recent developments, particularly surrounding this 'Church of the Holy Maidens' and their rapid growth from a minor sect to massive cult, I will take no chances with this, I do not want a repeat of the 40th Vytal Festival."

"Do you have the rest of the Atlesian Army lying in wait or something?" Ember inquired.

"In a matter of speaking," Winter smirked, "I have an additional five airships stationed an hour east of the city, each with an equivalent number of forces to what is within the city, plus one hundred paladins."

"That does seem a bit excessive," Neptune stated.

"Look," Winter smacked her hand on Neptune's desk, "Professor Pine wanted me as head of security for the festival and I'd appreciate it if you all would have some faith in me, if anything were to happen… if anyone decides to attack the festival, they'll be in for a surprise."

The forces Winter stationed outside the city were finishing setting up their base of operations, soldiers unloaded the equipment while the knights and specialists set up a perimeter. Unbeknownst to them however, they were being watched from the nearby tree tops.

Jet Dusk held up a pair of high-tech binoculars with a small dish protruding from it. The boy in black peered through the lenses as he watched the Atlesian Forces get set up, "are you receiving this Field Marshal?"

Back at Rouge's base, Rommel Berg sat at a terminal in the main command center and observed what Jet was sending him, "Affirmative Herr Jet, everything is coming through nicely."

"Do you think these forces will be a problem for our lady's plans?" Jet asked blankly.

"No, it vill be of no issue, as a matter of fact it may help," Field Marshal Berg replied.

"Very well, I'll continue to gather intel and report back once I'm done," Jet said.

"Good hunting, und stay safe," Field Marshal Berg closed out of the terminal and leaned back in his chair and chuckled, "oh Vinter, you sink you have zee upper hand, don't you? You are sorely mistaken mein Frau."

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	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the week delay with this chapter, I got a bit swamped with school work so I had to postpone this chapter until now, but we should be back on schedule until further notice. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and don't forget to follow the story if you enjoy it and maybe leave a review as well, thanks.**

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Chapter Three: Consequences of Conflict

A man stood on the balcony overlooking Rouge's base and its diligent occupants. He wore long white priestly robes with red accents along with matching gloves and slacks, the latter of which were tucked into a pair of leather cuffed boots. He also wore an ornate silver mask that resembled a face. On the front of his robes was a large hollow circle with a red Teutonic Cross inside it, on each point of the cross was a symbol for a season; At the top was a bushel of wheat, to the right was a blazing sun, at the bottom was a golden leaf, and to the left was a snowflake.

Rouge stepped onto the balcony and walked up behind the man, "so, Arch Deacon Wolfe, what do you think?"

The man turned to face Rouge, "your grace…" he dropped to his hands and knees, "I am not worthy to be in the presence of such a divine being."

Rouge chuckled at the man, "Albus please stand, you need not grovel before me."

The man stood but refused to make eye contact with the Summer Maiden, "I'm sorry your grace, it's just being in the presence of a god can be a bit overwhelming, especially one as beautiful as yourself."

Rouge gently placed her hand under his chin and pushed his face towards hers and she smiled, "you flatter me, but understand this, while the maidens have great and immeasurable power, we are not gods, we were born as you were born, and we will die as you will die."

"You are as humble as you are beautiful, your grace," Albus bowed.

"Thank you, now, we have some business to discuss," Rouge leaned against the railing of the balcony and looked down upon her crusaders, "I plan to rid Remnant of all evil and remake the world anew, I need allies and loyal soldiers for this however."

"You seem to have plenty of allies, why do you need my help?" Albus inquired.

"I have but a thousand crusaders, everyone would fight and die to the last man for me, and I them… but, it is not enough, a thousand men cannot conquer the world," Rouge paused as she faced the Arch Deacon, "I wish to bring you into my circle, I would like to know what you can provide to our cause."

"I have no doubt that once I bring word to the masses of our meeting that they will be lining up by the tens of thousands to join your righteous cause, but that will take time," he paused and looked over Rouge's troops below, "for now however, I can pledge our five-thousand templars to you."

Rouge chuckled slightly as she heard what the Arch Deacon pledged. Her reaction surprised him slightly, "I have spent four of the past five years gathering what I have now; I saved Jet and Nilah from an abusive household and they brought nothing with them, Field Marshal Berg brought only a dozen Atlesian deserters that now serve as his officers when I brought him into the fold, but you Albus… you have given me more over the course of a single conversation than I have managed to gain over my time as a Maiden."

"I am glad that I have pleased you, and I hope to serve you faithfully till my last breath, your grace," Albus bowed.

"I'm sure you will, now follow me, it's time you met the others," Rouge began to walk back inside and was closely followed by the Arch Deacon.

Ember Haze made her way to Neptune's office as the day's first classes were getting underway. She didn't have a first period class for her time at Haven, but she would host the combat classes for the other Beacon Students who made the trip to Mistral. After that, she would be holding the qualifying matches for those competing in the Vytal Tournament.

She passed by the members of Team AYST and exchanged a cordial "good morning" with them before continuing on her way.

When Ember entered Neptune's office his back was turned to the door and he was looking out his window over Mistral. On the center of his desk was a short stack of paperwork, most likely the work he had to get done that day. Ember hadn't noticed it the previous day, but above the window Neptune was looking out of was a large Trident.

"Ah, Ember, nice of you to drop by," Neptune turned to face his compatriot.

Ember walked up to Neptune's desk, "you wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes, please make yourself comfortable," Neptune motion towards the chairs and couch next to his desk.

Ember sat on the couch, "so, what is it, word on Summer or that cult?"

Neptune smiled as he sat, "no, nothing of such importance, I would've called for Winter and Marcus as well if that were the case."

"Then what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" She inquired.

"It seems word has reached your old master that you are back in Mistral, she was very keen on meeting with you," Neptune said.

Ember shivered lightly, "a-are you sure she said that?"

"Yes, I am, she would like to meet with you, and maybe observe your students a little," he said.

Ember gulped, "s-sure tell her she can observe our qualifiers at the end of the day."

"Very well, I'm sure she'll be elated when she hears the news," Neptune replied.

"Y-yeah…" She said.

Team BLAC exited one of Haven's lecture halls along with many other students from the other academies. They all looked tired and relieved to be out of the class.

"Who thought history could be so boring," Cyrus said.

"I know, Professor David doesn't have the same enthusiasm for the subject that Professor Arenas does," Bianca stated.

"Not to mention he sounds so flat when he lectures, he almost put me to sleep three times," Alyssa added.

"That's not all that hard to do," Lucas remarked.

Alyssa scolded her partner for a moment and then turned to her cousin, "anyway… what do we have next?"

Bianca pulled out their class schedule and skimmed it, "let's see… ah here it is, Grimm Studies with Professor S. Ayana."

"Let's hope he's not as strict as Professor Coventina," Cyrus said.

"She's only hard on us because she cares, she doesn't want any of her students going through what she went through," Alyssa said.

"Yeah, you're right on that," Lucas added.

As they walked through the halls to their next class, Alyssa began to remember the previous day's events. She took in a deep breath and then exhaled, unintentionally gaining the attention of her teammates.

"You ok?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Alyssa turned to her cousin, "hey B, how much time till our next class?"

Bianca pulled out her scroll and opened it, "about a half-hour, why?"

"I'm gonna head to the CCT and make a call, I'll meet you guys in class," Alyssa said.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Bianca inquired.

"Trust me, I'm fine," Alyssa replied.

Alyssa walked away from her team as they watched her go. The remaining members of Team BLAC looked concerned for her, but there was nothing they could do if she wouldn't open up to them. Bianca seemed to be the least convinced by her cousin's answer, considering what she was currently going through.

Haven's CCT Tower matched its surroundings with its pagoda stylings and the interior had a similar ornate oriental appearance. Since the incident in the city, Alyssa had noticed a large disparity in the ratio of faunus to humans in Mistral. Back in her hometown of Vale, the ratio was roughly one faunus for every two to three humans. However, here in Mistral she only ever noticed a handful of faunus among the hundreds of humans she had passed by, both in the city and academy and that's including the students from the other academies. Alyssa headed up to the communications room and was directed to a terminal by the CCT A.I.

After she sat at the terminal, she waited a few moments while her call went through. Her mother Blake then appeared on screen.

"Hey honey, it's nice of you to call, how have you been?" She asked.

"I've been fine, but tell me, are mom and Cerin there?" Alyssa inquired.

"They're out back doing some light sparring; did you want me to get them?" Blake asked.

"No, I was just wondering if they were nearby, I wanted to talk to you about something," Alyssa said, her voice growing a bit somber.

"What's the matter honey?" Blake asked with concern.

"Faunus aren't welcome in Mistral, are they?" Alyssa inquired softly.

Blake's tone turned serious, "what happened?"

Alyssa turned her face away from the screen, "well, my team and I went out to get something to eat and well, the place we went had a 'no faunus' sign out front, but, as you know, my semblance doesn't allow me to sense flat detail, so I didn't know what was written on it, and to make a long story short, the owner pulled a gun on me and my team pulled me out of there."

"What?!" Blake shouted, "you're ok right!?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, the guy didn't shoot, plus, my aura would've deflected the shot anyway," Alyssa said.

Yang's voice called out from the background of the call, "everything ok Blake?"

"Yes, everything's fine, now go back to train with Cerin please." She replied.

"Ok, let me know if anything is wrong though," Yang called out.

"Well, mom sounds better after what happened with that prick Roman," Alyssa stated.

"Yea, she finally got her tooth implants to replace the ones he knocked out," Blake chuckled for a second, "she got them in gold too."

Alyssa chuckled at this as well, "that's mom for ya."

"Anyway, back to the matter at hand," Blake's serious tone returned, "over the past few decades human and faunus relations in Mistral have been difficult to say the least. Even though the civil war wasn't strictly between humans and faunus, there were factions made up of both after all, it ruined what your grandparents and I worked for in that kingdom."

"It's just a bit jarring is all, sure I've been stopped by police every now and again on my nightly walks, but I've never been out right insulted or belittled because of my heritage," Alyssa said.

"Well, you haven't ever been outside of Vale before, you were going to experience something like this eventually," Blake paused, "just know that hate and prejudice aren't everywhere in the world."

After Alyssa spoke with her mother, she made her way to the classroom where the rest of Team BLAC were waiting. She sensed the presence of her friends in Team AYST as well when she entered the room. They and her team were all sitting together in the first two rows of the room's desks.

This lecture hall was similar in size to the one's Alyssa knew from Beacon; however, they were arranged bleacher style as opposed to than of an amphitheater. The seats and desks were split down the middle by a walkway and they were flanked at each side of the room by walkways as well.

"Welcome," a voice called out as Alyssa entered the room, startling the blonde faunus. The voice sounded familiar and she recognized it from yesterday. The voice belonged to Sierra Nahla.

Sierra was standing off to the side of the door waiting to greet all those who would enter. She presented herself in a respectable way; Her uniform was perfectly straight and ironed, she stood straight up, at near attention and held her hands behind her back, and her short red hair was arranged into a stacked bob with a messy finish. Along with all that, she had a welcoming smile on her face.

"Hey," Alyssa waived and proceeded to take a seat next to her teammates and friends.

Bianca looked to her cousin, "so, who did you call in the CCT?"

"I just wanted to talk to my folks before class, and let them know how everything is going," Alyssa replied.

"You tell them about what happened the other day?" Bianca inquired.

"Yea, just my mom though, since she knows a thing or two about faunus discrimination," Alyssa stated.

Ebony tapped Alyssa on the shoulder, getting the blind faunus' attention, "hey, your team told us about what happened yesterday," she paused and looked down to the ground, her expression growing from one of sorrow to shame, "I'm sorry you had to experience the bad side of my home on your first day… I should've told you to avoid Mr. Hong and his restaurant."

"It's not your fault Eb, you don't have to worry about it," Alyssa said.

"But I do," Ebony stated, "it's my home, and I feel ashamed that it wasn't as welcoming to you as yours was to me."

Alani inserted herself into the conversation, "I don't see why humans and faunus hate one another outside the islands, where I'm from we live in peace and harmony with our faunus brothers and sisters."

"Well, unlike your home, humans have marginalized and even enslaved faunus throughout the world for centuries, that's not something you can just forget," Alyssa said.

"That's a damn shame," Alani stated.

"You're right about that Al," Alyssa replied.

A couple more students entered the room after Alyssa and were similarly greeted by Sierra. She continued to stand by the door until a large man walked in; He had a dark complexion, similar to Ebony's, and spiky sage-green hair, altogether with yellow eyes. His clothing consisted of a long white coat with asymmetrical sleeves and a golden pauldron on the right shoulder with a matching cuff on the left wrist. His coat was buttoned all the way up and its large collar covered the bottom half of his face. Along with the long coat, he also wore dark gray pants, fastened by a white belt with a golden buckle, and a pair of gray boots.

"Hello Professor Ayana, how are you doing today?" Sierra asked as the man walked in the room.

"Hello Ms. Nahla, I'm doing fine, thank you," Professor Ayana replied.

Professor Ayana walked up to his desk at the front of the room, while Sierra took a seat at a small desk off to the side. He set the books and binders that he was carrying down and walked to the front of the desk.

"Hello everyone," he said, "for those of you visiting from the other kingdoms, my name is Sage Ayana, I will be your Grimm Studies professor for the duration of your stay here at Haven Academy."

The class went smoothly, Professor Ayana spent most of the class lecturing on the perceived habits of the specific types of Grimm native to Anima, like the Beringal. During the class he proved to not be as strict as Professor Coventina, even though he still did run a tight ship. His lecture on perceived Grimm habits turned into one speaking about rarer more dangerous types of Grimm that inhabit the wilds of Remnant.

"There are far more dangerous Grimm in the world than the ones we as huntsmen and huntresses have become accustom to seeing on missions, Grimm that with one look could strike fear into the hearts of anyone," Professor Ayana paused as he saw a student's hand go up. He quickly pointed to the student in question which was Alani.

"How many other types of Grimm are there?" She asked.

"We don't know the specific number of Grimm species, so there's no putting a cap on the number, however, we know that there are hundreds, and quite possibly thousands of species. Most of you know that the most common type of Grimm is the Beowolf, it's native to every continent on Remnant, however, have you or anyone else for that matter heard of a Nuckelavee?" Professor Ayana looked around the room. Only a handful of students raised their hands, two of said students were Bianca and Alyssa.

"Hmm… To be honest I wasn't expecting these many hands, but I'll continue nonetheless," Professor Ayana stated, "the Nuckelavee is an incredibly rare and dangerous beast, the last one was encountered and killed roughly twenty-three years ago near the abandoned village of Kuroyuri."

Bianca and Alyssa had heard the story of how Ruby, Nora, Jaune, and Ren had fought and defeated a Nuckelavee, but they had always imagined that a beast like that would be one of a kind, not a member of a whole species of Grimm.

"I've seen many a species of Grimm in my years as a huntsman and believe you me, some of the things out there are pure fear; along with the Nuckelavee there are Minotaurs, Rakshasa, and Wendigos, just to name a few," as Professor Ayana finished his thought the bell rang, and the students began to pack up.

"Ok, that's all the time I have, I will see you all tomorrow," Professor Ayana said as the students began to leave the room.

As Teams BLAC and AYST made there way out of their last class for the day, Ebony pulled out her scroll to check the time, "huh… It's only one-thirty."

"Really?" Cyrus inquired, "we've got like three hours till our qualifiers start then."

"Two and a half, but still," Roy said.

"So, what do you guys want to do till then?" Ebony asked.

"I guess we should just find a spot to hang out and chill," Bianca said.

"I'm ok with that," Ebony stated, "anyone else have any ideas?"

No one else could think of something to do to kill the time between class and qualifiers, so the two teams headed off to Haven's courtyard to hang out for the time being.

The two teams found a spot with a pair of benches to sit and hang out. They didn't have the same seclusion here that they did at their normal spot in Beacon, but it would make do for their time at Haven. The benches could only hold two people each, Alani and Yin took one, while Alyssa and Bianca took another, the other four either sat on a nearby low wall or the ground.

Dozens of students and professors passed by the eight of them as they hung out. They may have had some time off, but the school around them was still busy as ever. Across the courtyard from where they sat was Team SLVR practicing their Tai Chi together in perfect unison, much like how Team BLAC had noticed them doing the previous day. Along with Team SLVR, they noticed a pair of Vacuan students sparring with karambits while their teammates watched.

"Hey Eb, I've been wondering, where in the city did you live before you came to Beacon?" Alyssa asked.

"I grew up in the lower districts, my family wasn't the most well off, so we couldn't afford to live in the upper or middle districts," she replied, "but then again, no one who lived where I did was."

"So, was where you grew up like the rest of Mistral?" Alyssa inquired, "you know with the whole Faunus-Human thing."

"Well, I'd be lying if I said "no", but it wasn't as bad as the rest of the city, we couldn't afford to hate one another where I'm from," Ebony replied.

"That's good to hear," Alyssa said.

"Even so, some of the old folks didn't exactly approve of Human-Faunus relationships of any kind, but my generation didn't care what they thought," Ebony chuckled lightly, "I know my girlfriend and I didn't."

"Wait." Alani stated, "Eb, you have a girlfriend, why didn't you tell us?"

"You guys never asked," Ebony replied.

"Hang on, if you have a girlfriend, then what was with all the flirting and… you know… back at Beacon?" Alyssa asked.

"It's fine, you guys don't have to worry about it," Ebony said.

Team BLAC and the rest of Team AYST looked at one another for a moment and then back to Ebony.

"Are you sure Eb?" Bianca asked, her voice sounding worried.

"Guys, come on, it'll be fine, you don't have anything to worry about," Ebony replied.

"If you say so," Bianca said.

Four boys walked up behind where Teams BLAC and AYST were sitting, they were all wearing Haven's uniform and they had angry looks on their faces. The two teams were unaware of the boys walking up to them, and once they got behind them, one of them stomped on Yin's tail, while another, grabbed and twisted one of Alyssa's cat ears. The two of them jumped up in pain and turned to confront their attackers.

"Ow! What the hell!?" Alyssa shouted.

"What have we done to you?" Yin asked while rubbing his tail.

"You're in our spot, so scram," one of the boys said.

"Babe are you ok?" Alani asked Yin.

"I am fine," he replied whilst continuing to rub his tail.

Alani immediately got into the face of the boy who stomped on her boyfriend's tail, he had braided shoulder length black hair and a Fu Manchu mustache.

"Who the hell do you think you are," she yelled, "how dare you step on my boyfriend's tail and twist one of my best friend's ears."

"Tss, look what we have here," the man turned to his associates, "a faunus lover. You know what they say, the only thing worse than a faunus is a faunus-loving human."

"Hey man, we won't hesitate to kick your ass," Roy stated.

"I'd like to see you try," the man replied, "I'm more than confident that my team and I can handle a couple of faunus, five… what is it second-years, no, first-years, and a Southern Isle Savage."

Alani curled her fists and pulled back to punch the man in front of her. As she was about to let him have it, someone grabbed her fist and stopped it dead.

Sierra Nahla slowly pushed Alani's fist down and she and her team confronted the man and his associates. Team SLVR stood side by side in between Teams BLAC and AYST, and their harassers.

"You've got a lot of nerve Huo, you know that?" Sierra stated to the leader of the four men.

"I have a lot of nerve?! They're in our hangout spot!" Huo replied, "filthy faunus and their damn human lovers are stinking up the place with their presence."

"The courtyard is for everyone, regardless of race, find somewhere else to lay around, and need I remind you that I'm a faunus," Sierra bore her claws for all to see.

"Oh, I know you're a faunus," he spat on the ground, "the only reason I tolerate you is because you're the top student in the academy."

"Leave. Now." She commanded.

"I don't have to listen to you," he replied, "I'm staying right here."

"I suggest you leave," Russell stepped forward, "some of us don't have the patients of our team leader."

Huo was heavily intimidated by Russell and he began to back away slowly, "c-come on guys, maybe we should g-go somewhere else."

"But we can take them," one of the other men said.

"Shut up and go," Huo commanded.

Huo and his associates quickly left the area as Team SLVR continued to watch them and make sure they did so. As they went out of sight, Sierra and her team turned towards Teams BLAC and AYST.

"I'm sorry about him," Sierra apologized, "Huo is a misguided individual."

"Misguided!?" Alyssa shouted, "you call blatant harassment and racism 'misguided'!?"

"I agree, 'misguided' isn't the word I'd use for him," Alani said.

"Human and Faunus relations aren't black and white here, things are more complex than they may seem," Sierra replied.

"That's a load of bullshit." Alyssa stated, "how can a Faunus defend a racist?"

Sierra turned from Alyssa to Yin, whom was still rubbing his pained tail, "do you have anything to say?"

"No, I have heard stories of the conflict between our people and humans," Yin said.

"I'm not making excuses for his actions, they were deplorable, but Huo, like many others has been through a lot in his short life," Sierra paused, "both he and myself were orphaned because of the war."

"I'm sorry, but that doesn't make what he did right," Alyssa said.

"That's true, but he, and all of us here in Mistral were forced on a journey that we didn't want to take," Sierra paused once more before looking Alyssa in the eyes, "he who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left."

Sierra and her team began to walk away from Teams BLAC and AYST. Before they left however, Sierra placed her hand on Alyssa's shoulder, "meditate on what I've told you, thing's may look bad, but they are not as bad as they seem."

Alyssa began to ponder what Sierra had told her as the tiger-faunus walked away. That last phrase echoed in her mind. She thought to herself for a moment and it did make sense, experience, both good and bad changes a person and shapes them, whether they like it or not.

"Hey Eb," Alyssa said.

"What's up?" Ebony inquired.

"What was it like living under the prospect of the war spilling over into your home?" Alyssa asked.

Ebony looked to the ground, then back to her friend, "all I can say is, it wasn't easy."

Alyssa nodded her head as an expression of understanding came over her. She couldn't begin to imagine what people had gone through in this kingdom for nearly the past twenty years.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the week delay with this chapter, my finals kinda messed up my schedule so I had to post pone this chapter. Please enjoy and don't forget to follow and/or favorite the story if you did, thanks.**

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Chapter Four: The Qualifiers

Rouge was standing in her base's meeting room with her back turned away from the table where her allies were seated. Seated around the long meeting table were Rommel Berg and his lieutenants, Albus Wolfe and the captains of his Templar forces, and the Dusk Twins, Jet and Nilah.

"Our forces number over six-thousand, we should launch a full-scale attack on Mistral now, before the Atlesian Military has time to dig in," Albus said.

"Arch Deacon, if we attack Mistral with everything we have, the reserve Atlesian forces will descend upon us from behind and we will be wiped out," one of Rommel's lieutenants said.

"That doesn't matter, we have the numbers, we outnumber them more than two to one," Albus stated.

"If you think numbers are enough to guarantee victory then you are inept as a commander," the lieutenant said.

"Commander Amsel!" Rommel shouted, "you have no right to demean zee Arch Deacon, in zis counsel he holds zee same power as I, und zat is more power zan you."

He looked to the ground and relented, "my apologies Field Marshal."

"Although my subordinate had no right to speak to you in such a manner, he vas right," Rommel said, "numbers are not enough to guarantee victory, especially against a force like zee Atlesian Army."

"Then what would you recommend?" Albus asked.

"First of all, I recommend you read Melia Phloros' 'Thirteen Treatises of War'," Rommel stated, "secondly, ve shall drive a vedge in zee gap Frau Vinter has so graciously provided for us."

"And how do you recommend we do that?" Albus inquired.

"It's simple really," Rommel stated, "at zee same time my forces attack zee city of Mistral, your Templars vill ambush zee reserve Atlesian forces before zey can mobilize und reinforce zee city."

"What happens next?" Albus asked.

"If all goes according to plan, zee defenders vill yield or zey vill die," Rommel said.

"Do we know the strength of the city garrison though?" Another of Rommel's officers inquired, "for all we know most of their forces could be in the city itself and the base could be a facade."

"Our informant in Mistral, Lioness, has reported zat only a single airship is docked in zee city," Rommel replied, "zat is five-hundred soldiers, one-hundred fifty knights und ten specialists."

"No paladins?" Albus asked.

"Zey did not report seeing any, so no, no Paladins vithin zee city," Rommel said, "however, zere are at least one-hundred paladins at zeir base."

After the discussion around the table ceased, Field Marshal Berg turned to Rouge, who was still staring out the window and down onto the base, "do you approve of zis plan mein lady?

Rouge turned her head to the side, "you're the military man Rommel, if you like this plan, then so do I."

Field Marshal Berg bowed his head in acceptance of Rouge's answer. She turned back towards the window and gave a wave of her hand to those in the room indicating that they may leave.

After the incident in the courtyard, Teams BLAC and AYST headed back to their dorms to get their weapons and gear for their qualifiers. Alyssa seemed a bit at ease after everything that happened and the pain in Yin's tail had subsided.

Roy left his team's room after he finished putting on his silver-blue dress uniform-like combat outfit. He walked over to Team BLAC's room and knocked on the door. He waited a few moments for an answer and then Alyssa opened the door. She had on her tight fitting black t-shirt and matching skinny jeans, along with her slate grey combat boots, but not her golden tailcoat.

Alyssa's cat ears perked up, "hey Roy, what's up?"

"I just wanted to know how you were doing after that fiasco back in the courtyard," he said.

"I'm fine now, my ear's a little sore though," she replied.

"That's good for the most part," Roy said, "you know, I was a second from decking that Huo guy in the face."

Alyssa chuckled, "I'm pretty sure Al was gonna beat you to it."

"You know," Roy rubbed the back of his neck, "if you ever need anything just come find me or give me a call."

Alyssa smiled, "I'll be sure too."

The two stood in the hallway for a few more moments in a somewhat awkward silence smiling at one another, neither one really knew what to say to continue the conversation.

"I guess I should let you finish getting ready," he said.

"Yea," Alyssa replied. Before she went back into her room however, she walked up to Roy and pecked a light kiss on his cheek.

The normally disciplined and centered Roy turned as red as Bianca's combat skirt. Alyssa giggled and smiled at him as she stepped back into her room. Once she closed the door, Roy composed himself and smiled lightly as he chuckled. He then went back into his room and finished his preparations for the qualifiers.

"What was that about?" Lucas asked his partner as she walked back into their dorm.

"Oh, nothing," Alyssa smiled.

Lucas chuckled, "there's something between you two isn't there?"

"Possibly," Alyssa teased.

Cyrus watched the brief exchange between his brother and Alyssa while polishing the blade of his broadsword. He chuckled, gaining the attention of the two of them.

"And what's so funny over there in the peanut gallery?" Alyssa asked.

"Nothing, it's just, who would've thought the army brat had a soft side," Cyrus said.

"I thought we agreed to stop calling him that?" Lucas inquired.

Cyrus shrugged, "we're friends, we can give him crap every once in a while."

"Anyway," Lucas chuckled at his brother's words and then turned back to his partner, "whatever happens between you two, I wish you the best."

Alyssa smiled, "thanks Luc."

Bianca tossed her cloak over her shoulders and fashioned it together on her right, she then grabbed her sabers from her bed and slid them into their sheaths on her belt. She took a deep breath and began to walk towards the door of her dorm.

"Come on guys, we should get going," she said.

Her teammates nodded in agreement and then gathered the rest of their things. Alyssa put her tail-coat on, Cyrus sheathed his broadsword, and Lucas put on his sword belt. After Bianca slid open the rice paper and wood door to their dorm, they were greeted by the unpleasant sight of Apollo and Oliver standing in the hallway.

"Well if it isn't little miss Pruned Rose and her band of rejects," Apollo said.

"Really," Lucas stated in an annoyed tone.

"Yes, really," Apollo shot back.

"Why don't you just piss off already," Alyssa said.

Apollo snickered, "y'all should just drop out now, you'll never make it to the main tournament, especially if you have to go through my team."

"Is that a challenge?" Cyrus asked.

"Beating y'all ain't no challenge," Apollo boasted.

"That's a laugh, considering both B and I have already beaten you," Alyssa said.

"Pfft, that was just combat class," Apollo stated, "you really think I'm gonna go all out in a damn class?"

"I mean, yeah," Alyssa replied.

"Ha! You ain't seen nothing yet," Apollo boasted. He leaned towards Bianca and got close to her face, "besides, what's a girl who needed mommy to save her in a real fight gonna do?"

Bianca clenched her fist and decked Apollo in the chin, this caught everyone around them by surprise. The blow knocked his head to the side but did little else. Apollo slowly turned his head back in the direction of the now enraged Bianca.

Apollo massaged his jaw for a moment, "apparently the rose does have thorns."

"Don't you ever talk about my mother," Bianca threatened.

"I'll do as I please," Apollo said.

Tawney walked out of the room behind Apollo and Oliver, followed closely by Nikolas, "alright, we're ready to go… what's going on?"

"Nothing Tawney," Apollo said, "come on, let's go."

As Apollo and Oliver walked away from Team BLAC, Tawney and Nikolas faced them. They could see the anger in Bianca's eyes as she watched the two of them walk down the hall.

"Did something happen?" Tawney asked.

"Just Apollo being Apollo," Cyrus stated.

"I see…" Nikolas said.

"Well, whatever he did, we'd like to apologize," Tawney stated.

"There's no need for that," Bianca said, "come on guys, we're gonna be late."

Team BLAC walked through the courtyard on there way to Haven's combat classrooms. The air around them was surprisingly tense. Their leader had an aggravated look on her face and that concerned her teammates.

"Hey, B, are you good?" Alyssa asked.

She was given no answer by her cousin. Alyssa looked to Cyrus and Lucas, all three had concerned looks on their faces.

Cyrus jogged up to Bianca and put his hand on her shoulder, "Bianca, is som…"

Bianca through Cyrus' hand off her shoulder, "yes, something is the matter! I'm sick of Apollo's shit!"

Cyrus took a step back in shock at his partner's pure rage. However, after shouting, Bianca took a deep breath and composed herself.

"When we go up against his team, let's knock him down a peg," Bianca said confidently.

Bianca's teammates looked to one another and then back to their leader. With confident smiles on their faces, they all nodded in agreement.

They walked into the building containing the combat classrooms. It resembled the one back at Beacon in its layout, but like the rest of the buildings in Haven, it contained those ornate oriental stylings. They saw Apollo and his team enter the classroom down the hall from them. Bianca scowled at Apollo as she watched him.

As Team BLAC was about to enter, they were approached by Team SSGE. All of them were in their combat outfits; Yaara with her silver-blue dress uniform and stiff waist cape. Scarlet with her suit of silver armor adorned with golden trim and a matching bird sprawled out across the chest. Electra wore a blue jean vest over the top of a white formfitting t-shirt, with blue fingerless gloves, blue jean pants, and similarly colored skate shoes. Garnett wore a Bronze Lorica Musculata over the top of a dark red long sleeve shirt, with matching cargo pants, and black combat boots. All had their weapons on their back, save for Yaara, who's blades were concealed beneath her sleeves. Electra's weapon appeared to be a collapsible staff, while Garnett's was a large falx.

"Congratulations on making it this far guys," Yaara said.

"Thanks," Cyrus replied, "so, you guys have been here before, right?"

"Yeah, we were selected two years ago," Electra stated.

"You guys have any tips for us?" Cyrus inquired.

"Don't lose," Garnett interjected.

"No, but seriously," Yaara stated, "stay calm in your matches, work together, and play it safe till you see an opening, and you'll win enough matches to qualify for the main tournament."

"We'll be sure to keep that in mind," Bianca stated.

"Just know this, we may be friends, but when we meet, we won't go easy on you first-years," Scarlet said.

Alyssa punched her fists together, "we wouldn't want it any other way."

Teams BLAC and SSGE entered the classroom along with the other students participating in the qualifiers and took their seats. Team AYST showed up a few minutes after them and sat near Team BLAC in the room. The combat classroom resembled those back at Beacon, raised amphitheater style seating around a central combat stage.

Professor Haze was standing down on the combat stage as the students took their seats. She looked a bit tense and nervous, very different from her normally laid back and lax self. As the last of the students found their seats, a door to the combat stage opened and a dark-skinned woman with platinum blonde hair walked in. She wore a yellow robe with a pair of wide and loose-fitting sleeves with black pants and shoes. She also has white bandages wrapped around her hands, a black belt around her waist, and finally a red sash embroidered with a white "endless knot" across her chest.

"Holy crap," Alyssa blurted out.

"What? Is she supposed to be someone famous?" Alani asked.

"Yea," Alyssa replied, "that's Arslan Altan, one of the best huntresses in Mistral and one of the greatest martial artists alive."

"So, I take it she's a great warrior then?" Alani inquired.

"That's putting it lightly," Alyssa stated, "she's a Great Grandmaster in Mistralese Kung Fu who specializes in the Hung Ga style, she's the youngest ever to reach that rank."

"You seem to know a lot about her," Alani said.

"Why wouldn't I, she's a world-famous huntress," Alyssa said, "besides, she beat my mom in the final match of the 41st Vytal Tournament."

"Which one?" Alani asked.

"My mother Yang," Alyssa said.

Alani looked from her friend back down to Arslan, whom had just stopped walking and was facing Professor Haze. Being from a society of warriors Alani had respect for her fellows, and from what her friend said about this woman, she knew she must be a great warrior.

Professor Haze stood at attention when Arslan approached her. She bowed to her with a fist-palm salute, "greetings Sifu."

Arslan bowed back to Ember with the same salute but said nothing. After she bowed, she began to pace back and forth for a few moments with her hands behind her back while staring up at the Beacon students.

Her gaze stopped on Bianca and Cyrus, "hmm."

Cyrus leaned over to his partner and whispered, "why is she staring at us?"

"I have no clue," Bianca whispered.

Arslan turned back towards Professor Haze, "alright Ember, let's see how far you've come as a teacher."

Professor Haze bowed to Arslan once more with a fist-palm salute. After bowing, she walked to the center of the combat stage, while Arslan stood off to the side.

"Today your qualifiers begin," Professor Haze announced, "over the next two weeks you will participate in a sixteen-team round robin tournament, each team will fight fifteen matches in that time, after which the top eight will advance to the Vytal Tournament."

"That seems like a lot of matches for the given time," Cyrus said.

"I know, how do they expect us to be ready for the main tournament if we're tired from the qualifiers?" Lucas stated.

"Well, the main tournament isn't for another four weeks, so we'll have time to rest and train after this," Bianca said.

"Like your combat classes back at Beacon, all matches will be randomized," Professor Haze announced, "however, you will not fight the same opponent twice, every team fights every team."

Professor Haze walked over to a terminal on the wall and Arslan moved to stand beside her. She activated the terminal, and much like back at Beacon, a screen cycled through pictures of the students, but it was entire teams as opposed to individuals.

The screen began to slow, and eventually landed on two teams, "the first match will be, Teams STON and SSGE," Professor Haze announced.

The two teams made there way down to the combat stage, both looked confident and sure of victory. They lined up opposite one another on the stage as Professor Haze walked between them.

"Same rules as combat class, once your Aura hits the red, you're out, when all members of a team have been eliminated, the match is over," Professor Haze said.

Nikolas leaned towards Apollo, "what's the plan?"

"Pair off for now," Apollo replied, "Nikolas, you take Garnett, Oliver, you handle Scarlet, Tawney, you take Electra, and I'll take Yaara."

"Don't you think we should stick together?" Tawney asked.

"Hey, I'm the team leader, what I say goes," Apollo said.

Professor Haze pointed to both teams, "fighters ready."

The two teams took their stances and drew their weapons. Professor Haze quickly glanced to both teams and then dropped her hand, "begin!"

The two teams charged one another as Professor Haze quickly vacated the stage.

Tawney loosed a volley of arrows at Electra as the distance between them closed. She managed to dodge most of them but was hit by the last, causing her aura to drop slightly.

Electra leapt in the air and thrust the tip of her staff at Tawney, but the blow missed its mark as Tawney sidestepped it.

At this close a range, Electra had the distinct advantage, even so, Tawney managed to hold her own against the older and more experienced student.

Sparks of electricity burst from Electra's weapon as she and Tawney parried each other's strikes.

Electra reared back to strike Tawney, but she left herself open and Tawney landed a strong kick on her belly, knocking her opponent off balance and onto the ground.

Tawney turned and loosed a pair of arrows at Electra's teammate Garnett that struck him in the back.

Nikolas rushed Garnett and punched him with the rim of his shield and followed this by a swing of his sword.

Garnett parried the second blow with his falx and brought it around to strike his opponent.

Nikolas lifted his shield, but Garnett adjusted his swing and the forward curving tip of his sword struck his opponent on the head effortlessly.

Nikolas was knocked back, but he quickly composed himself and charged back in.

Scarlet took a huge swing at Oliver, he dodged the blow and she planted her morning star mace into the ground.

Oliver switched his Kukri sword into its pistol mode and fired several rounds at his opponent.

Scarlet spun her mace around in front of her and blocked the shots, she then pressed a button on the handle and turned her mace into a flail.

She took a long sweep at Oliver and struck him, knocking him to the ground. Scarlet quickly retracted the ball and chain if her weapon and rushed Oliver who was just pulling himself from the ground.

With one final savage strike, she knocked him from the combat stage and dropped his aura to the red.

"Oliver!" Apollo shouted, "shit."

Yaara thrust one of her wrist blades at Apollo while he was distracted, he just barely managed to dodge the blow.

"Focus on the fight at hand first-year," Yaara mocked.

Apollo got an angry look on his face and rushed Yaara, he threw several jabs, followed by a few crosses with his armored boxing gloves. All these strikes were easily parried by Yaara.

Yaara slashed at Apollo, but he managed to catch her strike, and he counted it by throwing a solid knee to her stomach.

Yaara stumbled back as Scarlet charged in and swung her mace at Apollo.

Apollo leaned back to avoid Scarlet's strike, he then caught her with a jab to the face, knocking her to the ground.

Yaara composed herself and rushed to her partner's side, after helping her up, she and Scarlet rushed Apollo.

They traded parries, blocks, and blows with Apollo, but despite outnumbering him, they couldn't take him down.

Tawney continued to fight in melee with Electra, but despite her bow having blades at each end, Electra's staff was far more suited to the task.

Electra landed a thrust to Tawney's belly causing her to keel over, she followed this strike with one to the back of her head, knocking her aura into the red.

Nikolas saw his partner go down and immediately broke off his fight with Garnett, "Apollo we have to regroup!"

Apollo leapt back from Yaara and Scarlet and saw his team's situation. He too broke off his engagement and linked up with Nikolas.

The two stood back to back as Team SSGE surrounded them.

Apollo sighed, "well, I'm open for suggestions."

"There isn't much we can do," Nikolas replied.

Yaara looked from the last members of Team STON and then to her own teammates, "it's time for the horns of the buffalo."

Yaara's teammates nodded. Garnett and Electra rushed Apollo and Nikolas from the front, while Yaara and Scarlet rushed them from the sides.

The two of them fended off the initial attacks from Garnett and Electra, but Yaara switched her weapon into their razor-whip mode and Scarlet switched hers into it's flail mode, their combined attacks were too much for them.

Apollo and Nikolas' Aura's plummeted into the red and the match was over.

"Damn, Team SSGE is gonna be tough to beat," Cyrus said.

"Yea," Ebony replied.

"Maybe Apollo wasn't kidding when he said he was gonna go all out," Bianca said.

"Yea, I can't believe he held his own against two superior opponents," Alyssa replied.

"It didn't matter in the end though," Lucas stated.

Bianca and Alyssa looked to one another and then down towards Team STON who were making their way back to their seats. They both knew, as everyone else did, the competition of the qualifiers would be tough.

Roy stood from his seat and walked over to Yaara once they got back to the seating area, "good job sis."

Yaara patted Roy on the shoulder, "thanks little bro."

As the two teams made their way back to their seats Tawney walked up to Electra, "good match, but did you have to hit me in the head that hard?"

"Sorry," Electra replied, "sometimes I get carried away."

Professor Haze initiated the randomization for the next match, as she did this, Arslan turned to her.

"So, Ember, Team SSGE certainly has improved over the last two years," she said.

"Yeah" Ember replied, "they are Beacon's top students now."

Arslan chuckled, "they are good, but I doubt they could beat Team SLVR."

"We'll see about that," Ember said.

"This Team STON though, they don't seem like they mesh well as a unit," Arslan stated.

"There is a bit of a schism in their team," Ember replied, "Tawney and Nikolas don't exactly get along with their team leader or his partner, and Apollo doesn't make it hard for them to do that either."

"Well, it is a teacher's job to resolve disputes and make sure her students work well together," Arslan said.

"I have been trying my hardest to help them," Ember stated.

"Not hard enough obviously," Arslan rebutted.

Ember glanced at her old master, whom had a stern look on her face. However, she could see through this and sense some disappointment hiding beneath.

The screens in the room stopped on the next pair of teams to fight, and Professor Haze announced them, "the next match will be Teams BLAC and AYST."

Bianca stood from her seat, "well, we're up guys."

Alani tapped Bianca on the shoulder from behind causing her to turn around.

"Good luck," Alani said.

Bianca chuckled lightly, "you too."

The two teams made their way to the combat stage and stood across from one another. As she had done the previous match, Professor Haze walked between the two teams to signal the start of the match.

"Do we have a plan?" Cyrus asked his partner.

Before Bianca could reply Lucas cut in, "I vote we don't do what Team STON did."

"Agreed," Bianca said, "we'll stick together, if we work together we have a good chance of winning."

Bianca's teammates looked to her and nodded in unison.

Professor Haze pointed to each team, "fighters ready?"

Both teams drew and activated their weapons and got into their stances. Professor Haze looked to both teams quickly and then took a deep breath and dropped her hand, "begin!"

The whole of Team BLAC charged forward, they were slightly spread out, but they remained close enough to guard one another.

Most of Team AYST counter charged Team BLAC, while Ebony stayed behind and let loose a flurry of rail rounds from her sniper.

Team BLAC dodged the rail rounds as they charged, so they engaged with the rest of Team AYST in melee combat.

Lucas combined his katana and tanto and formed his yumi bow and loosed several fire dust arrows in Ebony's direction.

She quickly rolled out of the way of the arrows as they hit the ground and exploded. Ebony then returned fire, but she narrowly missed Lucas.

Bianca threw a series of expertly weaved slashes at Alani, putting her on the back foot.

Alani parried one of Bianca's strikes with her spear and thrust it towards her opponent, but her strike was knocked away by Cyrus, whom proceeded to slash at Alani with his broadsword.

Yin jumped over Alani from behind and fired shots down onto Cyrus and Bianca from his revolvers.

Cyrus blocked the rounds with his barriers as Bianca and Alani traded blows and parries.

Bianca and Cyrus stepped back from their opponents and backed into one another, they looked to each other and smiled confidently, before turning their attention back to their opponents. They stood back to back as Alani and Yin rushed them.

Alyssa fired several volleys at Roy from her shot gauntlets, he retaliated by firing bullets of ice dust from his gloves.

The two closed the distance and engaged in melee, both trading heavy blows and stout blocks. They pulled back to strike at one another and Roy's ice-covered fist met Alyssa's armored gauntlet. The force of the blow pushed them away from one another.

"Damn, you hit hard, guess I can't hold back anymore," Alyssa said.

"You better not go soft on me Xiao Long," Roy replied.

Alyssa chuckled, "I'll try not to hurt that pretty face of yours."

Roy snapped his fingers, igniting the fire dust in his gloves while Alyssa chambered the next set of rounds in her gauntlets.

Roy charged forward as Alyssa took a defensive stance. He got in close and threw a flaming jab at his opponent.

Alyssa parried this strike and countered with a jab of her own, one amplified by a shot fired from her gauntlets.

Roy landed an uppercut on her, but as Alyssa flew backwards from the strike, she fired a shot from her boots and landed a powerful kick on Roy's chin, causing him to stumble backwards.

Cyrus continued to block Yin's shots with his barriers, but this dropped his aura significantly.

Yin switched his revolvers into their dagger modes and charged Cyrus, whom subsequently counter charged.

Cyrus parried Yin's quick strikes and was careful not to make eye contact with his opponent or he would risk coming under the effects of his semblance.

The two of them binded their weapons and Cyrus used this to his advantage. He grasped the blade of his sword with one of his hands and wrenched Yin's weapons and arms down. He followed this by thrusting the pommel of his sword into Yin's belly, knocking him to the ground.

Yin's aura hit the red and he was knocked out of the fight.

As Roy composed himself an ice dust arrow hit the ground next to him and froze his feet to the ground.

Lucas descended upon him with his katana raised, but before he could strike his target, he was hit by a shot from Ebony's rail sniper.

Roy snapped his fingers once again and punched the ice at his feet, shattering it.

Alyssa ran up to him and threw a pair of round house kicks at Roy. He managed to dodge the strikes, if only just.

Ebony shifted her rail sniper into its battle-axe mode and rushed Alyssa. She pulled her weapon back and swung down on her opponent with fury.

Alyssa ducked and grabbed the handle of Ebony's weapon, she then kicked her in the stomach and disarmed her.

Lucas ran up and delivered a series of quick slashes from his katana and dropped Ebony's aura to the red and knocked her out of the battle.

Roy drew his saber and charged Lucas. The two of them engaged in a brief sword fight, striking at, and parrying one another before Roy landed a knockout blow on Lucas.

Alani broke off her engagement with Bianca and regrouped with her last teammate. The remainder of Team BLAC did the same.

"What do we do?" Roy asked.

"Divide and conquer," Alani replied.

Alani and Roy charged their opponents, making sure to split them up. Cyrus and Bianca were split from Alyssa and that is who Alani went after.

As she charged Alyssa, she activated the spinning serrated blades of her spear. Alani thrust the spear at her opponent, but it was knocked away.

Alyssa attempted to close the distance on her opponent, but the sheer length of her weapon prevented this. Alani also kept up constant pressure, so Alyssa couldn't get off any affective shots from her gauntlets.

Alyssa slipped up and stumbled over her own feet, this opened an alley for Alani, whom thrust her spear into Alyssa's shoulder and knocked her Aura into the red.

Roy was engaged in a two on one fight with Bianca and Cyrus, but he was holding his own for now.

Bianca sped around him with the help of her semblance, leaving white rose petals in her wake, while trying to strike him, but he expertly parried and blocked all her strikes, due to help from his semblance which slowed his own perception of time down.

While Roy was engaged with Bianca, Cyrus charged in and got a few hits in on him, causing Roy to retreat for a moment.

Roy turned back to face his opponents and they charged him simultaneously. He used both his saber and every element of his dust infused gloves; fire, ice, wind, and lightning, to fend off his attackers, but it was a short-lived stand.

The combined blows from Bianca and Cyrus eventually wore down Roy's aura and knocked him out of the fight.

Cyrus and Bianca turned to face Alani, whom had just knocked Alyssa out of the match.

"We got this," Cyrus said.

Bianca smiled confidently and nodded to her partner.

Alani planted one of the tips of her spear to the ground and held her spear in front of her with both hands. She closed her eyes and her aura manifested itself as a brilliant orange flame surrounding her entire body. She opened her eyes and let out a ferocious battle cry and then bared her teeth and tongue.

Bianca charged forward with help from her speed semblance and Cyrus followed her.

Bianca threw a flurry of lightning fast slashes and thrusts at Alani, all of which she parried and dodged.

With a sweep of her spear Alani knocked Bianca's weapons aside and thrust her spear into her belly, knocking her aura into the red and Bianca out of the match.

Cyrus charged in and exchanged blows with Alani, but the enraged warrior was too much for him to handle, and he met the same fate as his partner.

Alani took a deep breath once the fight was over to calm herself and deactivate her semblance.

Bianca pounded her fist on the ground, "damn, we almost had it."

As Bianca slowly pulled herself from the ground, she looked up and saw Alani standing over her. She stuck out her hand and helped Bianca to her feet.

"Good match," she said with a smile.

"Yea, good match," Bianca replied.

Bianca put on a mask of good sportsmanship, Alani and the rest of Team AYST were her friends after all, but she couldn't help to be bitter in defeat. Each loss only reminded her of her short comings and failures. Ruby's sacrifice to save her shot to the front of Bianca's mind, it was her greatest failure.

Teams BLAC and AYST walked back to their seats as Arslan and Ember watched them go. Ember turned to the console to activate the randomization process for the next match and Arslan looked to her.

"They were good, unrefined, but good," Arslan said.

Teams BLAC and AYST are some of my best students," Ember replied.

Arslan nodded at her former pupil, "you know, the blonde one reminds me a lot of Yang Xiao Long, the fighting style is very similar, and they look a lot alike."

Ember chuckled lightly, "her name is Alyssa, she's Yang's daughter."

"I see," Arslan replied, "I may have to keep my eye on her, if she's anything like her mother, she'll be a tough opponent for anyone in the main tourney."

The first round of the qualifiers continued for a couple more hours as the remainder of the teams battled it out amongst one another. Many of the fights came down to the wire, while others were not as close. Once the last match had been fought the students were dismissed for the day and allowed to leave.

As the last of the students left the room, so did Arslan. Noticing her leave, Ember turned and jogged up to her former master and stopped her for a moment.

"Sifu, can we speak for a moment?" Ember asked.

"Of course," Arslan replied, "what is it you wish to talk about?"

"It's uh… about what happened between us," Ember said nervously.

"I see," Arslan replied, "please, continue."

"I just wanted to apologize for leaving the way I did," Ember said, "I disgraced you in front of Sierra and the others, I know we had our differences, but…"

Ember was cut off by Arslan placing her hands on her shoulders, "you don't need to apologize, the war was hard for all of us, especially you since you were so young and lost so much."

Arslan pulled Ember into a hug, "you are like a daughter to me, we've had our quarrel as all families do, it's time to put it aside and restart."

Ember was in a bit of shock from Arslan's hug, she had never embraced her like that before, but she eventually came around and returned the hug.

They stepped away from one another and Ember bowed to Arslan with a fist-palm salute, "thank you Sifu."

Arslan returned the gesture, "you're welcome my pupil."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Double Days

Bianca tossed and turned as she slept, memories flooded her mind and kept her from resting, voices of the past shouting in her head. "Why are you even here?" "You're not good enough to call yourself a Rose or a Schnee." "Hey… sweetie…" "Mom! Mom no!"

Bianca's eyes shot open and she quickly sat up whilst breathing heavily. Her brow and neck were drenched in sweat, causing her loosely dangling hair to stick to her skin. She looked around the room to her teammates, none of which were awake, she felt relieved that she hadn't woken them up. Bianca quickly wiped the sweat from her brow and laid back down to try and sleep, but as soon as she closed her eyes those memories came flooding back to her.

"It's all my fault," she thought to herself as a few tears fell from her closed eyes.

Bianca felt a warm presence come over her. She opened her eyes, but when she awoke, she was not in her room, she was in a black void. When she looked around, all she saw was darkness in every direction, except for one. Against the dark back drop radiated a woman in a bright white cloak, much like her own. This woman resembled her mother, but she knew who it was.

"Grandma Summer?" Bianca asked.

The woman smiled, "don't cry child, it doesn't suit you. I know you're sad about Ruby, but you mustn't dwell on it."

"How can't I?" Bianca shot back, "it's my fault she's paralyzed and in a coma."

"You are young and going through a trying time in your life," she said, "but if she never wakes what will you do then? You have to accept reality eventually, both she and your aunt did when I died. Yes, they, your grandfather, and great uncle mourned me, and some didn't take it as well as others, but in the end, they moved on. Never dwell on the past, you should always keep moving forward."

As Bianca dreamt of her grandmother, she began to mumble broken phrases of the conversation in her sleep. Cyrus awoke to this and rolled over in his bed to face his partner's.

He placed his hand on Bianca's shoulder and lightly shook her, "hey, are you ok?"

"But how do I move on?" Bianca asked her grandmother, "your death wasn't either of your children's fault, it's because of me that my mom is in the state she's in."

"I can't answer that, you must find that road and walk it yourself," Summer's body began to disintegrate into thousands of white rose petals, "thus kindly I scatter."

Bianca awoke, and Cyrus ceased shaking her, "huh? What's up Cyrus?"

"You were mumbling in your sleep," he whispered, "everything ok?"

The dream ran through Bianca's mind for a moment, "yea, everything's fine, sorry for disturbing you."

Cyrus tiredly nodded and rolled back over to sleep. Bianca laid on her back and stared at the ceiling for a while as she contemplated what she heard in her dream. "Keep moving forward," the phrase echoed in her mind and drowned out her other thoughts.

Almost a week had past since the first matches of the qualifiers. With the exception of the few teams who had no victories to this point, the field was wide open for entry into the main tournament.

Team BLAC plopped back down in their seats after a hard-fought win. The last week's worth of fights had taken a lot out of everyone, but endurance was a quality all hunters had to possess.

Lucas dropped into his seat while breathing heavily, "I can't believe we have to do two of these today."

"At least we get a break and the next set isn't till tonight," Cyrus said.

"True," Lucas replied.

"Hey," Alyssa huffed, "what's our record at after that match, I've lost track."

"Four wins, three losses," Bianca replied, "at least four more wins and we should qualify."

"That's good to know," Alyssa said.

Professor Haze stepped to the center of the stage to announce the next match, "ok, we've got one match left for now. Teams AYST and STON, you're up."

The two teams headed down to the combat stage and took their places opposite one another as Professor Haze made ready to begin the match.

"You're going down princess!" Apollo shouted at Alani.

"Apollo please, quit boasting," Nikolas said.

Alani pounded the tip of her spear to the ground, "bring it… prince!"

Ebony poked her team leader with her elbow, "it's just princess, it's supposed to be an insult."

"But I am a princess, why would I be insulted by that?" Alani inquired.

"Not the time," Roy stated.

"Right," Alani and Ebony said simultaneously.

Professor Haze pointed to both teams, "fighters ready?"

The two teams activated their weapons and made ready for battle.

"Fight!" Professor Haze announced.

Team STON charged forward at their opponents, but Team AYST held their ground for the most part. As Team AYST was being charged, Ebony and Yin widened out their positioning and got on Team STON's flanks.

Ebony charged her rail-sniper and fired a shot directed at Tawney, but the round glanced off the steel pauldron on her right shoulder.

She quickly turned to face Ebony and loosed several arrows at her in quick succession.

Ebony returned fire with her rail-sniper, her rounds collided with Tawney's arrows causing a magnificent explosion between them.

Ebony switched her weapon to its Battle-Axe mode and charged Tawney.

Tawney loosed arrow after arrow at Ebony as she closed the distance between them in an attempt to stave off her opponent.

Ebony skillfully dodged and parried her opponent's arrows as they flew towards her. Once she reached Tawney, she took a huge swing at her.

Tawney gracefully dodged the swing and put some distance between herself and Ebony before then knocking another arrow in her bow.

Yin quickdrew one of his revolvers and fanned the hammer, sending a volley of shots towards Oliver.

Oliver dodged the barrage and returned fire with his pistol as he charged Yin.

Yin drew his second revolver and began rapidly firing both weapons at his opponent, both his and Oliver's shots collided with one another in the air.

Oliver switched his weapon to its Kukri mode and took a huge swing at Yin.

Yin barely dodged his opponent's swing, as he did so, he switched his revolvers into their dagger modes.

Oliver took another swipe at Yin, but he blocked the blow. The two boys pressed their weapons against each other, and Oliver made the mistake of making eye contact with his faunus opponent.

Yin's eyes changed from their normal green color to look like Taos. Oliver's eyes then flashed into Taos before they returned to their red color.

Oliver took a step to push Yin back, but he slipped on his own foot and fell, allowing Yin to strike him several times.

Roy and Alani fought near back-to-back against Apollo and Nikolas. While they guarded each other, their adversaries' attacks were relentless and surprisingly well coordinated.

Roy shot bullets of ice dust from his gloves at Nikolas, but the shots bounced off his heavy round-shield.

From behind his shield, Nikolas thrust his short sword at Roy, in response, Roy drew his saber and parried the strike.

Roy snapped his fingers on his left hand and shot a fireball at Nikolas, but again, he blocked the shot with his shield.

Alani thrust her spear at Apollo as he advanced on her. He side-stepped the strike, and when she slashed at him with her spear, he ducked under it.

Apollo got inside Alani's weapon and delivered a pair of hook punches to her stomach. He attempted to uppercut her, but Alani dodged the blow and delivered a powerful kick into Apollo's bare stomach.

Alani twirled her dual tipped spear around and then presented one of the ends towards her opponent as he composed himself.

Nikolas put Roy on the defensive, as he was unable to get passed the warrior's shield. Roy slowly backed up until he was nearly touching backs with Alani. The two teammates looked to one another and nodded as their opponents charged forward.

Oliver was still under the effects of Yin's semblance, and his misfortune kept mounting.

He hacked and slashed at his wolf-faunus opponent, but all his attacks either wildly missed or were perfectly parried by Yin.

Yin ducked under one of Oliver's strikes and swept his feet from under him with his daggers. As Oliver fell, Yin slammed him to the ground with a powerful strike from both his daggers, dropping his aura into the red.

With his opponent knocked out, Yin deactivated his semblance, but the fight had left his aura very low.

Yin switched his weapons back to their revolver modes and took aim at Nikolas and Apollo.

Tawney noticed Yin taking aim at her teammates, she needed to act quick before they were attacked. She dodged the swing of Ebony's battle-axe and landed a punch to her face, disorienting her for a moment.

She knocked an arrow into her bow and took aim at Yin. Her shot was true, it struck the wolf-faunus in the shoulder and knocked him out of the fight.

Tawney turned to see a composed Ebony switch her weapon back into its rail-sniper mode and charge up a shot.

Tawney knocked another arrow and loosed it, just as Ebony fired her rail-sniper. The two projectiles nearly collided as they passed by one another, but instead they continued on their way and hit their intended targets.

Both Ebony and Tawney were knocked out of the match. Each team was down to their final two fighters as the bout continued.

Nikolas punched Roy with the edge of his shield and knocked him back. As he fell back, Roy fired a volley of ice bullets from his left glove, but they were again deflected by Nikolas.

Roy lifted his saber and slashed downwards at his opponent, he in turn lifted his shield and blocked the blow. Nikolas followed this by thrusting his sword into Roy's belly causing his Aura to drop into the red.

At this time, Alani overcame the defense of Apollo and struck him with several quick thrusts and slashes from her spear, knocking him out of the fight.

The two warriors turned to one another after they finished their opponents. Alani twirled her spear around and held it behind her back and Nikolas pointed his sword towards her. They began to circle one another.

They stopped, Nikolas banged his sword and shield together three times, while Alani presented the tip of her spear towards him.

Alani charged, "Kia Mate Toa!"

Just before she reached Nikolas, Alani leapt and thrust her spear into his shield, the force of the blow knocked him back a few steps.

Alani pulled her weapon back and thrust at Nikolas once more, but he parried this strike with his sword.

Nikolas advanced on Alani from behind his shield as she spun her weapon around and slashed at him with the opposite tip.

Nikolas blocked the blow and thrust his sword towards Alani, she quickly pulled her spear back and caught his arm between her side and spear.

Alani wrenched the sword from Nikolas' hand and flung it across the combat stage.

Nikolas took a step back and gathered himself. After a moment he charged forward and threw his shield at Alani.

She knocked the improvised projectile away, but just after, Nikolas grabbed hold of her spear and headbutt Alani, causing her to let go of her weapon.

Alani composed herself and looked at Nikolas holding her weapon. He tossed her spear aside and raised his fists. She smiled confidently and the two advanced on one another.

Just before getting into fist range, Nikolas took a hard step with his right foot and lifted his left leg, he planted his heel squarely into Alani's gut, causing her to keel over for a moment.

She tried to compose herself and throw a jab towards his face, but he grabbed her by the wrist and bicep and turned his back to her. Using his back as a lever, Nikolas flung Alani over is shoulder and to the ground.

He attempted to end the match by striking her in the head, but Alani fought her way back off the ground, however this wasn't enough.

As soon as they were even somewhat upright, Nikolas grabbed Alani under her arm, lifted her in the air, and slammed her to the ground. This last blow utterly shattered her aura and knocked the wind out of her.

"That's it, Team STON wins the match," Professor Haze announced, "that's it for now, go get some rest, I will see you all again at the end of the day."

"Yea! Suck on that AYST!" Apollo boasted.

Nikolas looked back to his team leader in disgust. He turned back to Alani who was still lying on the ground, trying to catch her breath. He helped her up as Yin and the rest of Team AYST ran over to them.

"Alani!" Yin shouted, "are you ok?"

Alani couldn't speak, but as she attempted to catch her breath, she smiled and gave her boyfriend a thumbs-up. Yin took her from Nikolas and slung her arm over his shoulder to help her walk.

"Breathe slowly," Nikolas said, "in through the nose and out through the mouth."

Alani followed his instruction and slowly she began to catch her breath. After she did so, she let out a bit of a pained laugh as she looked towards Nikolas.

"Good match," she said.

Nikolas bowed respectfully, "it was an honor, your highness."

Alani painfully chuckled, "you don't have to call me that, Alani or Al will suffice."

"Very well, Alani," Nikolas replied.

After the matches, the students headed back to their dorms to rest and recuperate for the next round of matches that would take place later in the day. Teams BLAC and AYST took some time to hang out in Haven's courtyard, in a different spot from last time. They managed to find a patch of grass overlooked by a large tree. The eight of them laid down in the cool shade to rest.

"Ow, ow, ow," Alani said as she sat down.

"Are you alright?" Yin asked with concern.

"I'm fine babe, just a bit sore from the match," Alani replied.

"You think you should go by the infirmary?" Cyrus inquired.

"I'll be fine, my aura is starting to recharge," Alani said.

"If you say so Al," Cyrus stated.

"So, what's your guys' record after that last match?" Bianca asked.

"Five and two, we're one match ahead of your team," Ebony said.

"Yeah, but we're even with Apollo's team now," Roy added.

"I can't believe that asshole, showboating after Nikolas won that match for him," Cyrus said, "I really hope they end up not qualifying."

"Apollo and Oliver are bad, but what about Nikolas and Tawney?" Alyssa asked, "I'd hate to be in their position right now."

"Yeah, if anyone deserves to qualify for the tournament, it's them, especially Nikolas." Alani said.

"I'll say," Cyrus said, "that guy really can fight."

"He might even give you a run for your money," Roy said.

"Maybe," Cyrus replied.

"I need to learn how to fight like that, we don't have anything like it back in the isles," Alani said.

"If you want to know, that fighting style is a martial art called Pankration," Ebony said, "it's not like the other martial arts from around Mistral, mainly because it's not Mistralese."

"What do you mean it's not Mistralese?" Alani inquired, "isn't Nikolas from Sanctum, and isn't Sanctum part of the Kingdom of Mistral?"

"Just because you're not from a certain area doesn't mean you can't learn that area's martial arts," Bianca said, "I've never been to Vacuo, but I picked up Vacuan Saber Fighting from manuals and a couple of my teachers back at Signal."

"It did originate here on Anima, but when it did, Mistral wasn't the only kingdom on the continent," Ebony said, "Sanctum was once its own kingdom, in the north and west of Anima, it had a separate culture from Mistral and a very martial one at that. However, about four-hundred years ago, the first Emperor of Mistral conquered Sanctum."

"Interesting, so where would I learn that fighting style?" Alani asked.

"Personally, I don't know any dojos that teach it around here, but I'm sure if you went up to the City of Sanctum you could find plenty," Ebony replied.

As Teams BLAC and AYST hung out on campus, their professor headed into the middle-class district of Haven. Ember walked into one of the few unsegregated restaurants in the city, as soon as she did so, a familiar voice greeted her.

"Hey Ember, over here," the voice called out.

She looked in the direction of the voice and saw Sierra sitting at the end of the bar with an open seat next to her.

Ember walked up to her friend and gave her a hug, "hey Sierra." She returned the gesture and then Ember sat next to her.

"I can't believe it's been almost two years since we last saw each other," Sierra said.

"It has been a while hasn't it," Ember replied.

The bartender walked up to them, cutting off their conversation, "what can I get for you ladies?"

"Saké," Sierra said.

"Scotch, on the rocks," Ember stated.

The bartender nodded once and poured their drinks before then heading off to the next customer. The bar seemed rather quiet for a Saturday, especially during the Vytal Festival.

"So, tell me Em, why didn't you come back to Mistral after you graduated Beacon?" Sierra asked.

"I was considering it for a while, but then I remembered this place was still pretty much a warzone," Ember replied.

"You probably should've, the war ended by the end of 102 V.E." Sierra replied.

"I know, but there was another reason on why I didn't come home," Ember stated.

"Oh really, and what was that?" Sierra inquired.

Ember nonchalantly held up her left hand and revealed a gold diamond ring as she took a drink from her scotch. It took Sierra a minute to process, but it soon hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Oh my god, no," Sierra said in disbelief.

"Yes," Ember replied with a smile.

"Wow, first I found out you're a professor, something I thought would never happen, and now you tell me you're getting married," Sierra said.

"I'm more than you expected, aren't I," Ember chuckled.

"Yea," Sierra giggled, "so tell me, who's the lucky guy… or is it a girl? Are they a huntsman? Older or younger? Human or Faunus"

"Ok, calm down there, you sound like a little kid," Ember said, "what happened to that composed 'too mature for her age' girl I remember?"

"Sorry, this is just really exciting and I'm happy for you," Sierra replied.

"It's fine," Ember said, "but to answer your questions, his name his James, but most people call him Jaime, he's human, we're about the same age, and he's the owner of a bar in Vale."

Sierra chuckled, "leave it to you to fall in love with someone who works in a bar."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Ember joked.

"Oh nothing," Sierra giggled, "so, have you told Sifu this? I'm sure she'd love to know."

"I talked to her briefly the other day, but no, I haven't told her," Ember replied.

The conversation turned a bit awkward once Ember and Sierra's master was brought up. Ember seemed a bit hesitant to speak and Sierra took a sip of her saké during the awkward pause.

"You really aught to tell her," Sierra said, "Sifu's really beaten herself up over what happened between you two, and that argument you two got into at the last Vytal Festival certainly didn't help much either."

"I spoke to her about it, I tried to apologize, but she said there was nothing to be sorry for," Ember said.

"That's progress," Sierra paused, "but I can still tell it's bothering you."

"It's just, Sifu was never this forgiving in the past, even two years ago she wasn't this forgiving or willing to welcome me back, I wonder what changed," Ember said.

"Six years is a long time to hold a grudge," Sierra replied, "I'm sure she's thought about not only what you did, but also what she did in that situation. Trust me, as a third party I can tell that both of you hold the blame for what happened."

"I guess you're right," Ember stated, "do you mind if we change the subject."

"That's fine," Sierra said, "actually, there is something I've been meaning to ask you."

"And what's that?" Ember inquired.

"Two of your students, the ones with the Silver Eyes, what are their names?" Sierra asked.

"Silver Eyes…" Ember thought, "oh, that's Bianca Rose and Cyrus Grey."

"Ok, thank you," Sierra said, "I've run into them a couple times, but I never got their names."

"No problem," Ember replied, "why did you want to know that?"

"One reason really," Sierra said, "Do you know if they have harnessed their powers?"

"I don't think so, although there was an incident a couple months ago when Bianca's activated," Ember said.

"Oh, how did this happen?" Sierra inquired.

"It's rather sensitive and not my place to talk about, you should ask Bianca," Ember said.

Sierra nodded, "right, of course."

The time flew by for Teams BLAC and AYST as they hung out in the courtyard, much like how they did back at Beacon. Eventually they left their spot and got lunch in Haven's cafeteria. After eating, they returned to their spot, which luckily no one had taken. Alani's recharged Aura had begun to soothe the pains she had from her last match and by now, all of both team's members had seemed refreshed.

Alyssa dropped onto the ground and placed her hand on her stomach, "that ramen was oh so good."

"Are you sure it was wise to have eaten so much though?" Yin asked.

"I'll be fine," Alyssa patted her belly, "I've got a strong stomach."

As the two teams began to relax, they heard a rapid series of footsteps that continued to get louder the longer they went on.

They were getting closer and closer, then the voice of a young woman called out, "Ebby!"

Ebony looked in the direction of the voice and she went wide-eyed before a large smile came to her face and she took off running, "Kim!"

The girl had a slim build and was just as tall as Ebony and possessed a pale-gold complexion. She had shiny jet-black hair arranged into a bun on the back of her head that was held in place by a pair of chopsticks, and bangs that slanted down to the right above her amber eyes. She wore a yellow tank-top with white bellbottom pants, and white sneakers. She jumped at Ebony and knocked her to the ground as Ebony caught her. The two broke out into laughter as Ebony's teammates and Team BLAC looked on at the sight and then to one another in confusion.

"I missed you Ebby," the woman said.

"I missed you too Kim," Ebony replied.

The two girls stood up from the ground and Kim grabbed Ebony's face and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Ebony was surprised for a second before she began to kiss back. Ebony's friends walked up behind her and Kim as the two girls separated from one another.

"So, what took you so long to get up here?" Ebony asked, "last I checked, it doesn't take a week to get to Haven from the middle districts."

"Things have been busy at the shop, we were backlogged almost an entire week," Kim replied, "anyway, I should ask you the same thing, you can't take some time off from training to save the world?"

The two girls giggled at one another for a moment before they noticed Team BLAC and the remainder of Team AYST standing behind them. They quickly turned to them and Ebony motioned to introduce Kim to her friends.

"Guys, this is Kim Hoàng, she's my girlfriend," Ebony said, "Kim, this is my team, Alani; our leader and Princess of Kamehameha Island, Yin; Alani's partner and boyfriend, my partner; Roy, and Team BLAC; Bianca, Lucas, Alyssa, and Cyrus."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Kim said.

"Likewise," Cyrus said.

"Ahem," Alani stepped forward and looked at Ebony, "don't think we're not going to address the Goliath in the room."

Ebony and Kim looked at Alani in confusion as she walked up to the two of them, and everyone else stood back and had nervous looks on their faces.

Alyssa leaned over to Roy, "this isn't going to go down well is it?"

"I don't believe so, no," he replied.

Alani walked up to Kim, "I know we literally just met, and we don't know each other at all, but I need to tell you something about your girlfriend."

Kim had a very confused look on her face, "Ebby, what's she talking about?"

Ebony shrugged at her girlfriend's question. Alani snapped to her, she had a somewhat angry and definitely serious look on her face.

"Kim," Alani took a deep breath, "Ebony has been cheating on you."

Kim looked from Alani to Ebony as an awkwardness fell over the group, everyone fearful of what was about to happen. Kim looked back to Alani, the confusion on her face broke and she started laughing hysterically. Her reaction only brought confusion to the situation as everyone other than Ebony were wondering as to why Kim would laugh at such a serious accusation.

Kim wiped a tear from her eye as she composed herself, although she couldn't keep herself from laughing a little bit, "that's rich, I can't believe she hasn't told you."

"Told us what?" Alani inquired.

"Let me clear some things up," Kim fully composed herself, "we have an 'open' relationship."

"Oh," Everyone except Alani, Ebony, and Kim said in unison.

"I don't quite understand," Alani said.

"That's fine," Kim placed her hands on Alani's shoulders, "Ebby and I know we were made for one another, it's just, we both enjoy the occasional encounter with a stranger, maybe even repeat encounters."

Ebony walked up next to Kim and slung her arm around her shoulder, "see Al, told you there was nothing to worry about."

"Wouldn't that still lead to problems though?" Alani asked.

"Not if we're straight forward about it and don't lead people on," Kim stated.

Ebony clapped her hands together, "well, now that that's out of the way, would you guys mind if Kim joined us?"

"I guess I should apologize," Alani said.

"You're fine, it's not the first time that's happened," Kim replied.

With what seemed like a disastrous situation avoided, Kim sat down with the members of Teams BLAC and AYST. There was still a bit of awkwardness over what had just happened, but it was slowly going away.

Bianca broke the silence, "so, Kim, how did you and Ebony meet?"

"It's kind of a long story," she replied, "but the quick version is that we grew up together in the lower city. Neither of us were shy when it comes to love or admitting our feelings…"

"That much is apparent," Roy cut in.

"Anyway," Kim continued, "one day Ebby here asked me out, which took me a bit by surprise, but I wasn't overcome with emotion or anything, and we've been together ever since."

"That's sweet," Bianca said.

"You know, I'm surprised Ebby didn't tell you all about me sooner," Kim said as she turned to her girlfriend.

Ebony shrugged, "they never asked."

"Are you training to be a huntress too?" Alani asked.

"Oh, heavens no," Kim giggled, "I wanted too, but my aura never unlocked."

"So, what is it you do then?" Yin inquired.

"I'm a tailor's apprentice," Kim replied.

"And a damn good one at that," Ebony added.

"Daww, Ebby, that's so sweet of you to say," Kim nuzzled up to her girlfriend.

"It's the truth," Ebony stated.

The nine of them hung out for the remainder of the time they had before Teams BLAC and AYST's next set of matches that day. Kim accompanied them back to Haven's combat classrooms. She bid them farewell once they arrived at their destination.

"Good luck in your match Ebby," Kim smiled, "win it for me why don't ya."

"I'll try babe," Ebony pecked Kim on the lips.

As Kim was about to walk away, she stopped and turned back to Ebony, "oh, I almost forgot to tell you something."

"What is it?" Ebony asked.

Kim pulled a small necklace, the shape of a Teutonic Cross, out of the breast of her shirt. It had a different symbol on each end; a bushel of wheat at the top, a blazing sun to the right, a golden leaf at the bottom, and a snowflake to the left.

"I've found the light Ebby," Kim said, "you should come down to the amphitheater tomorrow night, his holiness, the Arch Deacon, gives his sermons there."

"I thought you weren't into all that religion stuff?" Ebony said, "but ok, I'll meet you there."

"Wonderful," Kim pulled Ebony into a hug, and she returned it, "blessings of the maidens upon you."

Kim and Ebony separated after a few moments. With one final kiss, she departed, and Ebony joined her friends and teammates. However, as Ebony walked into the building with them, a strange feeling came over her, but she had to stay in her right frame of mind for her match, so she shook it off for now.

The two teams were among the last to enter the room and as they did normally, they sat amongst one another. Professor Haze walked to the center of the combat stage and waisted no time getting the matches started. Team STON was among the first teams to face off. Despite the lack of coordination between the two halves of the team, they absolutely demolished their opponents. A few matches passed and Team AYST was called up. Their match was a close one, but they won it on the back of Yin's gun slinging. The matches continued until there were but two teams left.

"Teams BLAC and SSGE, you're up," Professor Haze said.

As the two teams headed to the combat stage Yaara tapped Alyssa on the shoulder, prompting her to turn around.

"So, I heard you and my little brother are a thing," Yaara said.

"Kinda," Alyssa replied, "we're taking things slow for now."

"Well," Yaara threw her arm around Alyssa and smiled, catching the blonde faunus off guard, "don't you do anything to hurt him, or there will be hell to pay."

Scarlet inserted herself into the conversation, "she's not kidding either."

Alyssa chuckled nervously, "you got it Yaara."

After they descended the lift, the two teams took their positions opposite one another on the combat stage.

Professor Haze walked between them, "alright, last match of the day, lets make it a good one," she pointed to both teams, "fighters ready?"

Both teams took their stances and activated their weapons as their professor looked to them, "begin!"

The Two teams rushed each other, and a melee quickly ensued with everyone pairing off with one another.

Garnett swung his heavy falx down on Cyrus, whom attempted to block the blow, however the forward curve of Garnett's weapon allowed him to strike Cyrus nonetheless.

Cyrus shook off the blow and rushed back into the fray. He quickly parried a thrust from Garnett and threw a false-edge counter cut which struck his opponent in the shoulder.

Garnett reared back a heavy swing and brought it down upon his opponent, but Cyrus managed to dodge it.

Cyrus threw a quick thrust at Garnett, but the blow glanced off his lorica musculata breastplate.

Garnett caught Cyrus in the arm with a slash from his weapon and sent him skidding across the combat stage.

Garnett rushed Cyrus, but as he got close Cyrus stood with his weapon in its shotgun mode. He fired three shots, the first two Garnett dodged, but the third hit home.

Garnett was knocked back as his aura absorbed the blow, but as he began to compose himself, Cyrus rushed in struck him across the face with the pommel of his broadsword and knocked him to the ground.

Cyrus then leapt at Garnett in an attempt to finish him, but as he was in the air he was struck in his breastplate by Scarlet's morning star flail, sending him flying away from Garnett.

Scarlet retracted her flail and returned her weapon to its mace mode just as Alyssa fired a volley of explosive dust rounds at her from her double-barreled shot gauntlets.

Scarlet spun her mace in front of herself to block another volley from Alyssa, and then advanced on her. She took several swings at her opponent, but Alyssa managed to dodge them.

Scarlet once more activated her mace's flail mode and swung it at Alyssa, putting her even more on the defensive.

Scarlet retracted her weapon and Alyssa rushed her. She took a swing at the charging cat faunus with her mace, but her opponent ducked under the swing and landed a right hook to Scarlet's face.

Scarlet quickly recovered and smacked Alyssa in the shoulder with her mace, knocking her across the combat stage.

Alyssa quickly gathered herself and charged back in.

Lucas slashed at Electra with his katana and she skillfully blocked and parried his blows with her staff.

Electra landed a strike on Lucas, causing him to stumble and fall backwards. She fired a bolt of lightning from her staff as he lay on the ground, but Lucas saw it and rolled out of the way at the last second.

He quickly drew his tanto and combined his weapons to form their Yumi bow mode, he then loosed several arrows of fire dust at his opponent.

The arrows exploded as they hit the ground around Electra. The shockwave knocked her off her feet and her aura took a big hit.

Lucas hit himself with a speed glyph and charged Electra as she stood. She saw this and took a swing at Lucas as he got close.

He shot a glyph under his feet and jumped high into the air above Electra and loosed an arrow of ice dust.

The arrow exploded upon impact with the ground and encased Electra's feet in Ice, immobilizing her. Lucas split his weapon and sheathed his tanto as he landed.

Electra tried to break free from the ice by hitting it with her staff, but it was to no avail. Lucas placed a speed glyph under his feet once more and charged Electra.

She lifted her staff to defend herself and took a swing at Lucas as he passed. Both their blows connected, Electra's aura was dropped to the red, while Lucas' took a big hit from the electric shock of Electra's weapon.

Yaara disengaged with Bianca as she saw her teammate go down, she switched her wrist blades into their whip modes and cracked one at Lucas.

He barely managed to dodge the blow as he composed himself.

"Lucas! Hyperdrive!" Bianca shouted.

Lucas shot a speed glyph below Bianca's feet and she activated her own semblance, combining their effects. She shot forward at Yaara leaving a flurry of white rose petals in her wake, while Lucas leapt into the air and made his Yumi bow once more.

Yaara quickly turned and swept one of her whips in a wide arc toward Bianca. Bianca was unable to dodge the strike as she charged and was knocked to the ground.

Yaara quickly turned and smacked Lucas with her whip before he could get a shot off from his bow. He hit the ground as his Aura was dropped into the red.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that," Yaara said.

Bianca shot behind Yaara with blinding speed, catching her by surprise. She slashed her opponent with both of her sabers and knocked her to the ground.

Garnett swung his falx down onto Cyrus, but he caught his opponents weapon with his cross guard and parried the blow.

Cyrus then smacked Garnett with the pommel of his broadsword and then flipped it around, grabbing it by the handle and slashing Garnett across the shoulder, knocking him out of the fight.

Cyrus turned from his fallen opponent and rushed to aid Alyssa against Scarlet.

Yaara noticed him running and broke off from her fight with Bianca for a moment, she cracked one of her whips at Cyrus and wrapped it around his leg, causing him to fall.

Cyrus' momentum caused him to slide across the ground and stop just behind Scarlet. As he stood, he was smacked across the face with the backswing of Scarlet's mace, knocking him out of the match.

"Well that was anti-climactic," Professor Haze said as she took a drink from her metal calabash.

Alyssa dodged the swing from Scarlet and swept her legs from under her, she then jumped into the air and landed a heel kick onto Scarlet's chest, sending her into the ground and dropping her aura to the red.

Bianca and Alyssa regrouped, it was them against Yaara.

Yaara's aura glowed its golden color and a pair of her clones manifested next to her, one to either side.

Bianca and Alyssa charged Yaara, in response she cracked her whips at both her opponents and her clones mirrored her attacks.

The myriad strikes of not two, but six razor whips were too much for Alyssa to dodge, even with her sensory projection on overdrive and she was quickly knocked out of the match.

Bianca's speed and agility allowed her to duck and dodge through the attacks of her opponent, and a few well-timed parries with her sabers allowed her to get close to Yaara.

Bianca struck both of Yaara's clones, shattering them and forcing her opponent to retreat. Yaara brought her whips back into her sleeves and wrist mounts, she transformed them back into their sword mode.

The combatants charged one another and engaged in a dance of blades. They blocked and parried one another's strikes as they seemingly danced around one another.

Bianca moved like a flower petal in the wind as she weaved her sabers around her body and parried or dodged Yaara's attacks. Yaara seemed a bit surprised to be having this much trouble with Bianca in close combat.

Bianca thrust her saber at Yaara, but she parried it with one of her blades. As Bianca's saber slid across Yaara's blade, she pushed her arm up and managed to trap Bianca's.

Yaara slashed at Bianca with her other blade, but she blocked this blow with her free saber, Yaara then headbutt her opponent, knocking her back and causing Bianca to drop one of her weapons.

Bianca was in a daze from the headbutt. As she began to compose herself, she saw Yaara activate her weapons whip mode once again. Yaara cracked her whips at Bianca, and she managed to parry the first strike and dodge the second.

She cracked her whips once more, one of them wrapped around Bianca's wrist and prevented her from using her saber. Yaara then struck Bianca in the belly with her second whip and knocked her aura into the red.

"Good job students," Professor Haze said, "That's enough for today, get some rest and I'll see you all tomorrow."

Yaara walked over to Bianca and helped her up, "good match," she said with a smile.

Bianca smiled back, "yeah, good match."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Old Foes

The main gates of Rouge's base opened, and several hundred mounted and armored warriors trotted in on barded warhorses. These warriors wore white robes similar to that of Arch Deacon Albus Wolfe, they also possessed the same emblem on their chests and the armor of their horses. Rouge's men, along with Rommel Berg lined the entrance way as the warriors entered.

The Field Marshal took notice of their weapons, every-one had an arming sword at their left side, a dust powered energy rifle on their back, and a large kite shield on their left arm, however they had another weapon as well. The front portion resembled a typical knight's lance, but where the warriors held them, it resembled the stock and handle of an anti-tank rifle. As the last of the mounted warriors entered, Albus walked up to Rommel. He was escorted by twenty of the warriors, all were dismounted however.

"And that's the last of them," Albus said, "well Field Marshal, my men are at your disposal."

"Zank you," Rommel replied, "but tell me, vhy do you need so many men?"

"The shepherd must protect his flock, Mistral isn't as safe as it once was," Albus stated.

"Ok," Rommel replied, "vhy mounted zough? Cavalry is rather archaic."

"Horses are faster than men," Albus paused, "they are also faster than most Grimm."

"I see," Rommel nodded, "I can definatly vork vith zat."

Rommel and his men began to walk away as Albus and his bodyguard mounted some horses that were hitched to the posts off the side of the entranceway. As they went about their duties, Rouge walked past Rommel, on her way to Albus.

"Mein lady," Rommel bowed.

"My lady," the soldiers around Rommel bowed as well.

Rouge placed her clenched fist over her heart and bowed back to Rommel and his men before continuing on her way.

"Albus," Rouge called out.

"Your grace," Albus and his bodyguard bowed.

"Where is it you're headed?" She asked.

"It's Sunday you're grace, I have to be in Mistral in a few hours to conduct a sermon," Albus replied.

"Alright," she paused for a moment, "would you mind if I came along?"

"Not at all your grace," Albus said, "I believe we have a spare horse."

As Albus said this, one of his men dismounted and led his horse to Rouge. She petted the animal on its snout, before then mounting it.

"Thank you," She said to the templar.

The templar bowed respectfully, "it was my pleasure your grace."

Rouge, Albus, and their bodyguard rode out of the main gate of the base and into the bamboo forest that surrounded it. They rode along a narrow trail in two columns with Rouge and Albus at the front. Rouge lightly brushed the stalks of bamboo as she rode past and a small bird landed on her hand. She gently pet the small creature with her thumb as a soft smile came to her face. Albus looked over and saw the scene, from under his silver mask a smile graced his face.

Rouge slowly lifted her hand to the sky and the bird flew off, "nature is so pure and beautiful."

"Yes, it is, your grace," Albus said.

"When my mother was the Summer Maiden, she took me all over the world, we'd stop in cities and villages and we met so many kind and caring people, people too good for the world they were born into, but that wasn't my favorite part of our journeys," Rouge paused to take in the sights for a moment, "it was this, traveling through nature, eating by the campfire, and sleeping under the stars."

"I too grew up surrounded by nature," Albus said, "my father was a hunter, not a huntsman, just a normal one. When I grew old enough, he took me on my first hunt, and I got my first kill, an adult male Alpine Ibex, my father never looked prouder."

"My mother and I never hunted anything that large, mainly small game, like rabbits," Rouge replied.

Albus chuckled, "Rabbits are still good eating."

Rouge laughed in response, she ceased and looked to the Arch Deacon, "so tell me, how does the son of a hunter become the head of an entire religion."

He didn't respond immediately. Rouge couldn't make out his expression because of his mask, but she could tell by the silence that it had gone somber.

"The war, your grace," Albus replied.

"I'm sorry, If you don't wish to talk about it, I won't push you," she said.

"No, it's fine," Albus paused, "my village was neutral, we didn't side with any of the factions, but the war came to us nonetheless. We found ourselves in the middle of a battle between two factions, those who weren't killed in the crossfire, died in the subsequent Grimm attack, my parents were among those killed."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Rouge said.

"You don't have to be, I've long since come to terms with their deaths," Albus replied, "after that I wandered Anima, until I came across a man preaching in the streets of lower Mistral, my predecessor. He spoke of the glory and power of the Four Maidens, how they were much more than a mere story we tell our children, that they were actual divine beings watching over the people of Remnant. His words touched me, and I found myself following him. Over time I became one of his most trusted friends, I was his right hand in the quest to spread our faith."

"What happened to your predecessor?" Rouge inquired.

"About six months ago, my predecessor, a handful of the faithful, and myself were headed to Sanctum to spread the good word when we were set upon by bandits, many died both in the fighting and after, I was grievously wounded," Albus paused as he pulled his hand across his ornate silver mask, "I thought I'd surely perish, but then I was saved by a young woman who carried me to a nearby cave and tended to my wounds. When I grew strong enough to speak, I asked her what happened to the others in my group, she told me that by the time she found me, my companions were dead, I was the only survivor."

"Who was the woman?" Rouge asked, "she seems like someone I'd like to meet."

"Unfortunately, I was never able to track her down after she helped me," Albus said, "however, she did tell me her name, she said it was 'Spring.'"

"Intriguing, so, not only have you met myself, but you've also met the Spring Maiden as well," Rouge said, "so what happened after that?"

"I decided to abandon the quest to Sanctum and Spring helped me back to Mistral, once their we parted ways, and I informed the others of what happened," Albus said, "many accused me of murdering my predecessor and wanted to enact retribution, thankfully cooler heads prevailed. Our elders convened and seeing how close the previous Arch Deacon and myself were, and taking into account my encounter with Spring, they elected me as his successor."

"Accused of murder huh, being the lone survivor how did you get out of that?" Rouge asked.

"My wounds were proof enough," Albus paused as he turned his head to face Rouge, "I don't wear this mask for fashion's sake."

As the Arch Deacon looked Rouge in the eyes, she noticed something she hadn't before. While Albus' right eye was normal and gold in color, his left eye was solid white. She could also just barely make out a very faint scar running through it.

A few hours passed as the group continued to ride to Mistral. Rouge was mostly silent, she was content to listen to the templars and Albus talk among themselves. As they drew closer to Mistral, the group could see Haven Academy and the upper city at the top of the twin peaks which they rested. Up to this point, Rouge had only been to Mistral once, and then, she didn't take time to appreciate the spectacular beauty of the city. The old Imperial Palace of Mistral's Emperors was converted into what is now Haven Academy after the abdication of the last emperor at the end of the Great War.

"Your Grace," Albus said, "may I ask you a question?"

"By all means," Rouge replied.

"Why is it that you've decided to accompany us to today's sermon?" Albus inquired.

A slight smile came to Rouge face, "I think its high time I addressed the faithful."

Albus nodded once, "very well your grace."

As they Approached the gates of the city, Mistral's splendor faded, and the lower city's slums became the major sights. Rouge was nearly brought to tears as she witnessed the state in which these people lived. Those that had homes lived in shanties and those that didn't slept in the muck and mud of the streets as rats scurried around and over them. One other thing she noticed was that the majority of those who lived here were of faunus origins. Rouge's sorrow was overcome by anger, anger at those in power who would leave these innocent people to suffer in such filth.

"So, where do you conduct your sermons?" Rouge asked.

"The old amphitheater your grace," Albus replied, "it's only a few more blocks from here."

They soon reached the amphitheater, the sun had recently dipped behind Mistrals peaks, casting a shadow on this part of the city, the only light was from that of street lamps in the middle and upper districts and torches around the lower city and amphitheater. Several lesser priests were there to greet the Arch Deacon and his companions. Albus quickly ordered his Templars to take their positions around the amphitheater and set about making sure all the preparations for the sermon were in order.

After he finished speaking with the priests, he turned to Rouge, "Your grace, please follow me."

The two of them walked to a large white tent at the open end of the amphitheater. As they walked by the old stone structure, Rouge saw that it was large enough to fit a few hundred people, but there was no one inside as of yet. In it's center there was a large stage made out of a single stone slab.

Albus opened the curtain of the tent and allowed Rouge to enter first, "you know, I'm surprised Jet and Nilah didn't come with us, do you have them on a special assignment?"

"No," Rouge replied.

"We're always by our lady's side unless she says otherwise," two voices called out, startling Albus, one was apathetic and the other manic.

Albus turned around to see the Dusk twins step out of a shadow as a dark mist dissipated around them.

"Wait… how did you…" Albus was cut off.

"My semblance allows myself and up to one other person to travel through shadows," Jet said apathetically.

"We've been following you all since you left the base," Nilah added manically.

"Right… just please try not to startle me like that again," Albus replied.

"Our apologies," the Dusk twins said in unison.

Many people began to pour into an old stone and marble amphitheater in Mistral's lower district. It had fallen into disrepair like all of the lower city since the beginning of the Civil War, but it was still somewhat structurally sound.

Kim Hoàng was standing outside the entrance as the last few people were walking in the amphitheater, she was scanning the crowd and had a worried and somewhat disappointed look on her face. As she turned to enter the building, a familiar voice called out her name.

"Kim wait up!" The voice shouted.

Kim turned to see her girlfriend Ebony jogging up to her and a smile graced her face.

"I thought you wouldn't make it for a second," Kim said.

"Sorry, qualifiers ran a bit long," Ebony replied.

"It's ok, I understand," Kim said, "come on, we should grab a seat before the place fills up."

Ebony and Kim proceeded into the amphitheater. As they passed by the Templars guarding the doors Ebony made eye contact with one. The Templar simply nodded at her as Ebony and Kim walked past.

"What's with the knights?" Ebony asked.

"They're the Templars, they solely exist to protect and aid the faithful," Kim replied.

"But not non-faithful?" Ebony inquired.

"I'm sure they'll protect anyone who can't protect themselves," Kim replied.

"Mhmm," Ebony said skeptically.

The pair past by another set of Templars as they entered the amphitheater proper. They then made their way to an open spot in the crowd, the area was tight, but the two girls managed to fit. The crowd around them was lively and talkative, as most of the attendees made conversation as they waited for everything to start.

The crowd quieted down as a man in white priestly robes and a silver mask stepped out of the tent. He waved to the people as he strode to the stone stage.

"Who's that?" Ebony asked.

"That's his holiness, the Arch Deacon Albus Wolfe," Kim replied.

"So, what's with the mask?" Ebony inquired.

"He claims his face was horribly scarred in a bandit raid," Kim said.

"Seems like someone has a vanity issue," Ebony remarked.

"Ebby," Kim scolded her girlfriend.

"Sorry," Ebony said, "most people I've met that are in a position like his prefer to keep up positive appearances."

"I don't think the man is vain," Kim replied, "I've been to many of his sermons, he's very charismatic and kind, I doubt he cares what he looks like. Besides, it shouldn't matter to the faithful, he's the Maidens' chosen, he has communed with one after all."

"You're not serious, are you?" Ebony asked.

Kim leaned to her girlfriend, "shh, it's starting."

Albus stepped forward onto the stage and looked around the amphitheater. The people were as quiet as death waiting for him to speak, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

He spread his arms wide and spoke, "greetings brothers and sisters of the faith, I trust you are all having a blessed evening this day."

He paused as he looked at his congregation, seeing people nod and hearing a few people saying "amen." His gazed landed on Ebony for a moment, which made her tense up, but he soon moved on.

"I see we have some new faces in attendance tonight," he said, "for those of you just joining us, you have chosen a very special day to come into the Maidens' light. But first, allow me to lead us in a prayer."

Ebony slyly rolled her eyes as she heard this, but as Albus began the prayer she bowed her head out of respect, but she didn't follow along.

"We are gathered here today, O Holy Maidens, as your people to offer you our sacrifice of prayer and worship…"

She took a quick look around and saw most everyone else had their eyes shut and heads bowed as the Arch Deacon said a prayer. As she looked around, something, or rather someone she recognized popped into the corner of her eye.

Perched atop a tree branch watching the sermon was the girl in white her team had fought on the Beacon Docks a couple of months back. Ebony went wide-eyed and was no longer glancing, but staring in complete disbelief.

Nilah saw Ebony stare at her, she stared back, her baby-blue eyes locking with Ebony's Blue and Green Heterochromic eyes. A large manic smile graced Nilah's face as she creepily waved to Ebony, causing her to instantly break eye contact and look to the ground.

"…in the name of the Four Maidens, amen," Albus said as he concluded the prayer.

"Amen," the people of the congregation said in near unison with one another.

"Now, as I said earlier, today is a very special day for all of us here, and as such I will not be giving my usual sermon today, instead I have a guest for you all," Albus turned towards the tent, "you may have the floor your grace."

Ebony, like the rest of the congregation looked towards the white tent behind the stage. She saw yet another familiar face, the boy in black that she and Roy had personally fought back in Vale. Seeing both Jet and Nilah again sent a shiver down her spine, she knew she would have to inform her team and friends as soon as possible.

After he opened the tent's curtain, a young woman in her late teens or early twenties walked out and up to the stage. She had a tan complexion, red eyes, and a short black fauxhawk. She wore a black leather shoulder pauldron on her left shoulder and matching vambraces on her forearms over the top of a gray long sleeve shirt that hugged her athletic figure. With this, she wore red and black breeches, a thin red waist cape, and knee-high black leather boots.

Rouge walked to the stage with her arms held behind her back and her head held high, a noble posture that demanded respect. She reached the stage and for a moment, looked around the crowd.

"Hello good people of Mistral, my name is Rouge Armina, it truly is an honor to meet you all," she paused, "some of you may be wondering what is so special about me. You are all the faithful of the Four Maidens no?

The great majority of the congregation replied with "yes" or "amen."

"Then you should already know who I am, for I am the latest incarnation of the Summer Maiden," Rouge said.

A collective gasp could be heard from the crowd and some fainted as some shouted "hallelujah," while others cried "heresy!"

"How can you prove that you aren't just some charlatan?" A man shouted from the crowd.

"How dare you question one of the gods!" Another person yelled.

People began to argue in the stands. Rouge looked around and as she saw this her eyes lit up with a brilliant red-orange light, resembling that of a flame as gusts of wind began to blow into the amphitheater and the crowd began to quiet down. The wind coalesced around Rouge's body and she began to levitate. The wind soon died down as the crowd stared on in awe, all doubt being purged from their minds, and Rouge gracefully touched back down to the ground and her eyes ceased to glow.

The crowd, which was dead silent began to cheer. Ebony had a dumbstruck look on her face, she didn't know what she had just witnessed. When she looked over to Kim, she had her mouth covered and was crying.

"Hey, hey, why are you crying," Ebony wrapped her arms around her girlfriend.

Kim uncovered her mouth to show that she had a huge smile on her face, "it's just so surreal, I never thought I'd get to see one of the Maidens."

Ebony didn't say anything in return, but instead she pulled her girlfriend into a closer and tighter embrace.

Rouge stepped off the stage as people rushed down from the amphitheater. They fell to their knees and reached out to touch the Maiden as she walked by. Soon, most of the members of the congregation were surrounding Rouge and reaching out to touch her, their god. She stood in the center of the crowd and looked around to the people and smiled as she reached out to them as well.

Kim stretched out one of her arms towards Rouge as Ebony held her, "Hallelujah! Blessed be the Maidens!"

Ebony had no words for what she had witnessed, she had always thought of the tale of the maidens as just a story, but what she had witnessed changed that. However, she couldn't shake the thoughts of what Jet and Nilah were doing with the Maiden. This question ate at her mind for the remainder of the sermon and while she walked her girlfriend home.

The two girls stopped in front of a small house in the lower city, it wasn't the grandest of homes, but it most certainly wasn't a shanty like those of the lowest parts of the city. The single-story house was an off-white color with dark brown trim. It had a simple wooden patio that led to its front door. Flanking the door to each side were bay-style windows.

"Ebony, are you ok?" Kim asked, "you haven't talked since we left the sermon."

"I'm fine, I just have a lot on my mind is all," she replied, "with the tournament and the maiden, it's a lot to take in."

"Yea, I'll admit it was quite a lot to take in tonight," Kim stated, "take the night to think about everything and I'll say a prayer for you."

"You do that," Ebony paused, "oh, I almost forgot, the Vytal Dance is in two weeks, could you possibly make some outfits for my friends and I?"

Kim thought to herself for a moment, "It's kind of last minute, but my master and I don't have many orders right now, so possibly."

"Thanks," Ebony smiled, "so do want me to give you the details now or…"

"Text me in the morning, we'll go from there," Kim said.

"Alright then," Ebony replied.

Ebony and Kim exchanged a kiss as Kim headed towards her home. Ebony watched Kim until she closed her door behind her, the two exchanging a wave goodbye as it shut. Ebony then took a deep breath, put her hands in her pockets and made her way back to Haven Academy.

Haven Academy was quiet for the most part as it was almost curfew. Within the dormitory the visitors from Beacon were staying at, Ember Haze was having tea with Arslan Altan in her room. Ember's room was fairly similar to those the students were staying in, with the exception of a few furnishings; Rather than four beds, there was only one, off to the side and in the center of the room there was a short coffee table. Both women were kneeling on opposite sides of the coffee table as they drank their tea.

"This truly is amazing news, I'm happy for you and your fiancé," Arslan said.

"Thank you Sifu," Ember replied.

"So, have you decided on your bridesmaids yet?" Arslan inquired.

"Yeah, Sierra is going to be the maid of honor, I just asked her the other day, and my teammates from my days back at Beacon are filling out the rest," Ember stated.

"Do you know where you'll have it at?" Arslan asked.

"Jamie and I decided to have it on the beach," Ember paused, "I wanted to ask though, would you be willing to come and maybe uh…"

"Maybe what?" Arslan asked.

"Considering you're the closest thing I have to a parent; would you like to give the bride away?" Ember asked somewhat timidly.

Arslan reached and grasped Ember's hand lightly, "it would be an honor."

The two of them then heard a knock at Ember's door, "Professor Haze, it's Ebony, I need to talk to you about something, it's urgent."

"Come on in," Ember said.

Ebony slid open the door and saw both Ember and Arslan kneeling at the coffee table, "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"No, you're fine," Ember replied, "what is it you needed to talk about?"

"Do you remember the fight on the docks a couple of months ago?" Ebony asked.

Ember got a seriously look on her face and then stood to face Arslan, "Sifu, I 'm sorry but I have to ask you to leave please."

"Why? Something top secret?" Arslan chuckled.

"Yes, actually," Ember bowed respectfully, "I'm sorry Sifu, maybe we can pick this up tomorrow."

"Very well," Arslan stood and bowed to Ember before leaving.

Ember turned back to Ebony, "please, take a seat and tell me everything that happened."

Early the next morning, Ember told Neptune what Ebony had seen at the amphitheater. The seriousness warranted the attendance of Winter and Marcus, along with Oscar and Nebula attending via video call.

"Ember, are you sure about this?" Oscar asked with seriousness in his voice.

"Yes, Ebony is a good student, I trust what she saw was valid," she replied.

Winter was visibly angry, "she's just taunting us at this point!"

"This really is beyond frustrating," Neptune added.

"How has she been able to stay hidden under our noses like this, first in Vale, now here?" Nebula paused, "and why all of a sudden does she decide to make an appearance?"

"I have no idea," Oscar said, "there is also the question of why she's been hiding from us."

"With all do respect Professor Pine, we've been sitting idle for too long," Winter stated, "I believe we need to take a more active role in tracking the maiden down."

Oscar thought to himself for a moment, "I agree, but all my best huntsmen are occupied."

"Same here," Nebula added, "we've had a spike of Grimm attacks in the border Regions of Vacuo recently."

"Major Stallion is it possible you could spare some of your specialists to track the Maiden down?" Oscar asked.

"Yes, I can," Marcus said.

"Good, get your best men," Oscar paused, "this operation is need-to-know."

"Of course, sir," Marcus replied.

"Alright, we need to get on this ASAP," Oscar said, "General Schnee…"

"Yes sir?" Winter inquired.

"Have your security forces remain on high alert through the end of the tournament, we can't afford to take any chances," Oscar said.

"Yes sir," Winter said.

Teams BLAC and AYST were gathered in the former's dorm room discussing what Ebony had seen the night before. They were stressed out, for they had thought they had seen the last of Jet and Nilah, and now they found out they were in league with a Maiden.

Cyrus was leaned against the wall of the dorm, the look on his face showed frustration, "you can't be serious Eb, please tell me you're joking."

"I know I joke around a lot, but this time I'm not," Ebony said.

"So, you're serious then," Cyrus replied.

"Serious as a heart attack," Ebony stated.

"Well then, what do we do?" Alyssa asked.

"Why don't we try to go after them," Alani said.

"I don't think that's a very good idea," Roy stated, "Eb did the best possible thing by informing Professor Haze."

"So, we're just going to sit and do nothing then?" Alyssa inquired.

"It's all we can do, let the actual hunters deal with this," Roy said.

Alani looked over to Bianca, "what do you think we should do?"

Bianca had been sitting on her bed, looking to the floor. The memory of Jet and Nilah terrified her to say the least. She didn't hear Alani at first as she continued to space out, only focusing on those memories.

"Bianca are you ok?" Alani shook her lightly on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Bianca looked up, "oh, yea, I'm fine, I just spaced out is all."

"What do you think we should do about this whole situation?" Alani asked.

Bianca thought to herself for a moment, "I think Roy's right, we should let the professionals handle this," she paused, and her voice fell somber, "the last time we got involved in something like this… people got hurt."

There were no objections to what Bianca had said, only a silent acceptance by her teammates and friends.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: A Rose Has Thorns

An Atlesian Airship was docked at Haven Academy, there were many naval personnel and a handful of specialists going about their duties onboard. This ship was acting as the flagship of General Schnee's security forces for the Vytal Tournament, at the helm were the command crew, along with Major Stallion and the General herself. The General and Major were currently standing in front of a large holographic screen, on it was a dark-skinned woman with short navy-blue hair that had slight hints of graying, blue eyes, and wearing an Atlesian Military Uniform. In the center of her forehead was a small golden oval, surrounded by four similarly colored, yet noticeably smaller circles.

"So, I take it things are running smoothly on your end Commander Soleil?" Winter asked.

"Yes, everything is running smoothly and right on schedule ma'am," Commander Soleil replied.

"Good," Winter said, "I knew leaving the base in your hands was a good idea."

"Thank you, ma'am," Commander Soleil said.

"You're welcome," Winter paused, "however, in light of recent events, I'll need you to step up patrols around the base and double your guard."

"Yes ma'am," Commander Soleil checked her watch, "If you could forgive me ma'am I have to give a briefing to the men in a few minutes."

"Very well," Winter said, "keep me posted on any and all changes."

"Yes ma'am," she saluted, "Commander Soleil out."

Winter and Marcus returned the Commander's salute as the video call was disconnected.

Marcus chuckled, "oh Ciel, always a stickler for staying on schedule."

Winter turned to her second-in-command, "you have to admit, it is a good trait to have for our line of work."

"It is," Marcus replied, "and I know no one better at it than her."

The stepping of heavy armored boots could be heard entering the bridge. Several of the crewmembers looked up quickly to see who it was, but just as quickly went back to their tasks. Winter and Marcus turned to see a pair of large soldiers in heavy powered armor. The soldier on the left was male, and noticeably larger than the other, standing at nearly eight feet tall. On his right shoulder was the symbol for the word Alpha. The other was female and nearly a foot shorter than her counterpart, her right shoulder had the symbol for Omega on it. Both the soldiers towered over the rest of the bridge's occupants.

When the two soldiers reached the General and Major, they stopped, stood at attention and saluted their superiors. General Schnee and Major Stallion returned the gesture.

"Agent Alpha, Agent Omega," Winter looked to the both of them, "I'm giving each of you a command, you will head up our security patrols. Alpha, you will have the Academy and upper city. Omega, you'll have the middle city."

"What of the lower city?" Agent Alpha asked. His voice was deep and robotic sounding.

"Major Stallion and his specialists will be handling that," Winter replied.

"Very well," Agent Alpha stated.

"You are to begin as soon as possible," Winter said.

"I've mapped the routes for you and sent them to your scrolls, but if you see the need for any changes you will have full authority to make them," Major Stallion stated, "for now, a patrol every two hours will suffice, however, once the festival kicks off and the main tournament begins, the General and I want them hourly."

"Yes sir," both the soldiers saluted. Agent Omega's voice, while still robotic sounding, had a lighter tone than that of Agent Alpha.

As the two soldiers left the bridge, Marcus turned to Winter, "ma'am, are you sure it was wise to bring the Centurions? I mean, they're untested."

"I thought this might be a good trial run for them to gain some experience and get acclimated," Winter replied.

"What if what they are is revealed?" Marcus asked, "surely that will raise many questions, especially from Professor Pine."

Winter placed her hand on her subordinate's shoulder, "Major, everything will be fine, you need not worry."

"Very well ma'am," Marcus replied.

A week had passed since Ebony saw her friend's old foes, it was the afternoon before the final day of the Vytal Tournament Qualifiers. Team BLAC's last match was a hard fought one against a fourth-year team, but it ultimately ended in a defeat, dropping the teams' record to six wins and seven losses.

As Team BLAC made there way back to their seats in the combat class, they walked past Apollo who was loudly snickering at them. He continued to do this until they reached their seats and despite being scolded by both Nikolas and Tawney.

Bianca was visibly angry as she and her team sat down, however not from the loss. Even though she would beat herself up over losses, she always tried to remain a good sport, no, it wasn't the loss, it was Apollo's cocky snicker that got under her skin.

Cyrus shot Apollo a dirty look, "can you give it a rest already!?"

Apollo ceased laughing and faked thinking, "nah," he replied with a cocky smile.

Team BLAC sat down amongst their friends in Team AYST, well away from Apollo and the rest of Team STON.

"He's such an asshole," Ebony said.

"You don't gotta tell us twice," Bianca replied.

As they sat down, Professor Haze stepped to the middle of the combat stage to announce the students. She took a drink from her calabash before she spoke and then hooked it back to her belt.

"Ok, we're almost done for today, one more match; Teams AYST and SSGE," she said.

Team AYST stood and began to make their way to the lift that carried combatants to the stage.

"Wish us luck guys, we're gonna need it," Roy said to Team BLAC.

Alani turned to her teammate, "oh come on, you say that like we've already lost."

"Well, my sister's team hasn't lost a match yet, so… yea," Roy replied.

"Hey, anything can happen," Ebony added.

Team AYST headed down to the combat stage where they were joined by their opponents. Team SSGE oozed nothing but confidence, as Roy had stated, the fourth-year team hadn't lost a single qualifying match yet as their record stood with twelve victories and no losses. They could lose their last three matches and still qualify for the Vytal Tournament.

As the two teams took their positions across from one another on the combat stage, Yaara called out to Roy in a teasing fashion, "good luck little brother."

Roy chuckled to himself for a moment before then turning to his Team Leader, "Al, I'll take my sister, you go after Garnett."

"You sure?" Alani asked.

Roy cracked a confident smile, "yeah."

Alani nodded to her teammate and drew her spear from her back.

Professor Haze pointed to both teams, "fighters ready?"

Teams AYST and SSGE nodded to their professor.

"Begin!" Professor Haze announced.

Ebony fired volley after volley from her rail-sniper at Team SSGE as they and her teammates charged one another. Most of her shots missed their mark, but they served to delay Team SSGE's charge and put them on the defensive.

Yaara lifted her wrist blades and blocked one of Ebony's shots, but the force of the fifty-caliber tungsten round still managed to push her back a few feet.

"Electra take out Ebony, Scar, cover her!" Yaara commanded.

As Electra and Scarlet rushed Ebony, Yin moved to cut them off. He fired his revolvers at the girls, but Scarlet parried the bullets with her mace.

Electra rushed forward with Scarlet just behind her, she planted one end of her staff in the ground and vaulted over Yin as he switched his weapons to their dagger mode and took a swipe at her.

He quickly turned and switched his weapons back into revolvers to shoot Electra, but he was hit in the back by Scarlet's mace, knocking him to the ground.

Ebony turned and took a shot at Electra, but she slid down to her knees and ducked under the round.

Ebony quickly switched her sniper into it's battle-axe mode and parried a swing from Electra's staff. She then took a heavy swing at Electra, but Ebony's blow missed its mark as her opponent quickly and skillfully sidestepped it.

Electra spun around and dodged every strike Ebony threw at her, the ones that came even remotely close were met with swift parries and powerful blocks.

Ebony took a large sweeping strike at Electra, but she ducked under it and swept out her opponent's legs. She quickly followed this by striking Ebony with her staff, sending her flying across the combat stage.

Ebony quickly rushed to her feet and brushed a few loose dreadlocks out of her face. A serious look came over her as she lifted her axe and charged Electra.

Yin picked himself off the ground as Scarlet retracted the head of her mace back to the handle. He quickly switched his weapon back to their revolver modes and fired a hail of dust rounds at his opponent.

Scarlet leapt out of the way of the incoming fire and swung her mace at Yin, turning it back into its flail mode.

Yin was forced back towards the edge of the combat stage as Scarlet relentlessly swung her flail at him, but she then made a huge error.

Scarlet locked eyes with her opponent for a mere second, however this was long enough for Yin to activate his semblance and curse her with misfortune.

Yin's eyes switched from their naturally jade green color to Taos as he looked into Scarlet's eyes, simultaneously her indigo eyes flashed into Taos quickly before reverting back to their normal coloration.

Scarlet's next swing threw her off balance and her flail wrapped itself around her, entrapping her in its chain.

Yin opened fire once more and hit Scarlet with a barrage of shots from his revolvers, sending her flying across the stage and past the remaining two members of each team.

Alani and Roy quickly stepped out of the way as Scarlet flew past them, while Yaara and Garnett watched her go by.

"This is going slightly better than expected," Roy remarked.

Yaara rushed forward, followed closely by Garnett, "don't get ahead of yourself little bro!"

She thrust one of her wrist blades at Roy's face, forcing him to quickly dodge. This put him off balance and at his sister's mercy.

As Yaara pulled back to throw another strike, Roy snapped his fingers and shot a fireball into his sister's belly, knocking her away and giving himself some room.

Roy drew his saber as he regained his balance and he stared down his sister, determination was in his eyes.

As the siblings prepared for their duel, Alani and Garnett were in the midst of a heated fight.

Garnett swiped his falx left and right, up and down, trying to strike Alani, she was just barely managing to dodge his swings.

Alani leapt back from Garnett after he narrowly missed a swing at her head, "you know, you're fast for someone your size."

Garnett rushed Alani and with all his strength, he swung his falx down upon her with fury.

Alani blocked his strike with her spear, but the pure force pushed her down to her knees as she struggled to push Garnett away.

Garnett continued to push down on Alani as she struggled against him. She let out a deep battle cry as she was being pushed back and activated her semblance. Alani's strength increased tenfold and she was able to push Garnett away from her with a single forceful shove.

A fiery orange glow surrounded her body and rage filled her eyes as she stood and charged her opponent.

As her teammates were engaged with their fights, Ebony found herself still on the backfoot against Electra. The fourth-year student was simply too fast and skilled for her to manage.

Ebony took a huge swipe at her opponent with her battle-axe, but Electra ducked under it and swept Ebony's legs out from under her.

As Ebony was about to hit the ground, Electra activated the lightning dust in her staff and struck her, sending a huge shockwave through Ebony's body and dropping her Aura into the red.

Scarlet retracted her flail back into its mace form, freeing herself from its chain. She quickly charged back in at Yin, but his semblance was still affecting her.

She took a swing at Yin, but it missed wildly, and he retaliated with a series of quick thrusts and slashes from his daggers, landing every blow. Scarlet's aura dropped to the red and she was knocked out of the fight.

As soon as Yin finished off his opponent, he was set upon by Electra. Her attacks were relentless, and Yin struggled to parry them. She took special care to not look him in his eyes.

Electra quickly struck Yin in the belly, knocking the wind from him and causing him to keel over.

Yin was unable to effectively defend against his opponents next set of strikes and his aura was dropped into the red, knocking him out of the match.

As Alani and Garnett locked their weapons together, she saw Yin get knocked out of the match. She went wide-eyed as her semblance went into overdrive and even more rage filled her.

Her attention went back to Garnett, she pushed him away and planted a heel kick straight into his armored gut and then rushed off towards her new target.

"Electra look out!" Garnett shouted.

Electra turned to see Alani leap in the air with her spear raised and ready to swing down onto her.

As Alani was descending upon Electra, she was struck by one of Yaara's whips, sending her slamming into the ground.

Electra looked to her teammate and gave her a 'thank you' nod, before then facing Alani. Garnett soon joined her in this face off.

Alani picked herself off the ground, her aura was low, but she had enough. She bore her teeth and tongue as she pointed her spear towards her opponents.

"Looks like your friend's gone berserk," Yaara said to her brother, "it's a shame, she'd be far better off against them had she not."

Roy looked to his team leader, she was fighting with reckless abandon and seemed to have lost all discipline.

Roy smirked, "trust me, she's far more dangerous now."

Yaara scoffed at Roy's words, "whatever you say little bro."

Yaara cracked one of her whips at Roy and he quickly parried it with his saber and retaliated with a volley of ice bullets fired from one of his gloves.

Yaara quickly dodged her brother's attack and cracked another of her whips at him.

Roy was struck in the shoulder by his sister's attack, knocking him off balance and dropping his aura dangerously low.

He quickly stood and activated his semblance, slowing his perception of time. As his aura began to glow, Yaara smirked and activated her semblance as well, creating two of her mirror clones.

Roy dodged and parried the strikes of his sister and her clones with the help of his semblance, but it was draining on his aura and he couldn't keep it up for long.

Yaara kept up the pressure, increasing the number of clones from two, to four. Still, Roy managed to avoid all his sister's attacks.

At this point, Electra and Garnett managed to put some space between them and Alani, but she was quickly closing the distance between them.

"Garnett, violet maneuver one, go!" Electra said.

"Right!" Garnett replied and then rushed Alani.

Garnett swung his falx at Alani, but she slid under the strike and tripped him with her spear. As she was about to strike Garnett, Electra rushed in and blocked Alani's strike with her staff.

Electra thrust her staff towards Alani's head, but her strike was parried by her opponent's spear.

Electra quickly realized she wouldn't win this engagement against Alani and regrouped with Garnett.

"Ok, let's try that again, maneuver two, go!" Electra said.

"Got it!" Garnett replied.

Alani let out a furious battle cry as she charged her opponents.

Just before she and Garnett got into melee range, he jumped in the air and Electra slid on her knees under his legs and thrust her staff into Alani's belly, stopping the berserking warrior in her tracks.

Garnett followed this up with a powerful swing from his falx that slammed Alani into the ground, dropping her aura into the red.

Roy had continued to fend off his sister's attacks as he attempted to close the distance on her. She was noticeably surprised by her brother's tenacity. Once again Yaara turned up the heat and increased her clones from four to six.

Roy continued to fight valiantly, but six of his sister's clones were too much for him to handle. He was struck several times by their whips, thus dropping his aura to the red.

"And that's the match, Team SSGE wins!" Professor Haze announced.

As Roy started to pick himself up, Yaara held out her hand to help him up and he graciously accepted.

"You've gotten better little bro," Yaara smiled, "still not as good as me though."

Roy snickered, "whatever sis."

"Ok class, I'll see you all tomorrow for the final two rounds, you're dismissed," Professor Haze said.

Team BLAC was one of the first teams out of the room, along with Teams SSGE and AYST. They were closely followed by Apollo and Oliver, with the rest of Team STON trailing somewhat behind.

"Good luck tomorrow Pruned Rose, you're gonna need it," he said mockingly.

"Apollo!" Nikolas shouted.

Before Nikolas could get his thought out of his mouth, Bianca stormed up to Apollo and got into his face. Apollo was taller and physically larger than Bianca, but she wasn't phased by this. Back at Beacon she may have been when he initially started bullying her, but now, she wouldn't be intimidated by someone who's bark was bigger than their bite.

"You know what. I'm sick and tired of your shit," Bianca stated, "every time I see you, you belittle me and make fun of my teammates… I'm done. Whenever my team faces your team tomorrow, be it the first set or second set of matches, we will beat you, regardless if we qualify or not. You can bet that if we don't qualify, then I'll make it my mission that you don't either."

Apollo leaned towards Bianca and smiled cockily, "bring it."

Nikolas rushed up behind Apollo and grabbed him by the shoulder. He quickly yanked his team leader away from Bianca and towards himself.

"You are a warrior and a team leader, so act like it!" Nikolas stated.

Apollo shoved Nikolas out of his way and began to leave, followed closely by his partner Oliver. Before he left however, he turned back to Bianca with that same cocky smile on his face, "see ya tomorrow Pruned Rose."

"Geeze that guy is such an asshole," Yaara said after seeing the confrontation between Apollo and Bianca.

"You don't have to tell us twice," Cyrus said.

"Try being on a team with him," Tawney cut in.

Bianca glared at Apollo as he left, her eyes were full of nothing but contempt for him. What made him think he was so much better than her? Just because he'd beaten her more times than she him? That doesn't mean he has a right to talk down to her or her team. Bianca was determined to beat Apollo and shut him up once and for all.

Teams BLAC and AYST headed back to their dorms after their matches, some looked more tired than others from the day's matches.

As Alyssa was about to enter her dorm, Roy walked up behind her and got her attention.

"What's up Roy?" She asked.

"I was wondering, since it's still kinda early, did you want to go get dinner?" He asked.

"Sure, where at?" Alyssa smiled.

"Great!" Roy said, "Ebony showed us this place in the middle district, great food, better than Sonny's in my opinion actually."

"I highly doubt that!" Cyrus called out.

"Anyway… Oh! And the place is completely ok with faunus," Roy added.

"Alright, just let me shower and change, "Alyssa said, "um… I recommend you do the same."

Roy chuckled, "yea, so, I'll meet you here in a half hour?"

"Sounds like a plan," Alyssa replied.

"Aww, kitty cat's going on a date," Cyrus teased as Alyssa entered their room.

"Really…" Alyssa replied.

"Hey, I'm just messing with you," Cyrus laughed.

"Whatever," Alyssa chuckled, "so what are the rest of you going to do for the night?"

"I'm gonna hit the cafeteria and then call it a day," Lucas said.

"I'm going to train," Bianca said.

Cyrus looked to his partner, "are you sure about that? I mean, we just finished a whole day of tournament matches."

"Yes, I'm sure," Bianca replied, "I've been getting sloppy recently and I need to brush up on a few things.

Cyrus thought to himself for a moment, "alright, we'd better get ready then."

"We?" Bianca inquired.

"Yes, 'we'," Cyrus replied, "what kind of partner would I be if I left you to train by yourself?"

Bianca smiled, "alright, let's get ready."

A few minutes past as Alyssa left the room and headed to the showers while both Bianca and Cyrus changed into their training outfits. The two headed out to Haven's training hall. Their training hall was located in the basement of the building combat classes were held in, unlike back at Beacon where it and the firing range were on the second story.

The room was equipped much the same as Beacon's training facility, a ring for full-contact sparring, various exercise machines for general workouts, a few punching bags scattered around, and a plethora of synthetic practice weapons of all types. They did have one thing Beacon's didn't though; spread throughout the area were a few wooden kung-fu dummies, several of which were occupied.

Bianca and Cyrus set about training, first stretching as to avoid injury, after which they grabbed some synthetic weapons similar to their own and jumped into the sparring arena for a quick match. As they fought, Cyrus could see that his partner's strikes weren't as quick and precise as normal, they were heavy, inaccurate, and slow, very uncharacteristic of Bianca's fighting style. She almost seemed angry.

She slashed at Cyrus with both of her sabers. He quickly blocked them and allowed Bianca's weapons to slide off his. Cyrus then struck Bianca in the back, causing her to stumble.

She quickly composed herself and rushed back in. Cyrus flipped his sword around and gripped it by the blade. When Bianca swung at him, he ducked and tripped her with the cross guard of his weapon.

Before Bianca could get back up Cyrus thrust his sword at her, stopping mere inches from her neck.

"You're more than a little sloppy," He said, "five-minute break?"

Bianca nodded, and Cyrus pulled his weapon away from his partner and reached down to help her up. The two exited the ring and sat on some benches near the wall to catch their breath.

"I can see you're upset about something," Cyrus said, "and I think I know what that something is."

Bianca didn't reply.

"I know you want to beat Apollo, trust me, I do too, but you're not going to if you just run in head first," he said.

"How do you suggest we beat him then?" Bianca asked.

"To be honest," Cyrus thought to himself, "I really don't know."

"Well that's a big help," Bianca replied sarcastically.

"Hey, you're our leader, you were chosen for a reason," Cyrus said, "when we were cornered by those Beowolves back in the emerald forest, you took charge, it was your leadership that allowed our team to fight and eventually escape. I know you'll think of something, you always do."

A slight blush came to Bianca's face as she looked away from Cyrus, "you're right, I've got to stop and think and not let my emotions lead me."

Cyrus placed his hand on Bianca's shoulder and smiled, "I know you can."

Bianca smiled back at Cyrus and he removed his hand from her shoulder. As the two stood, they noticed that in their short break, a pair of familiar faces had occupied the ring; Russell Zeffre-Aero and Violet Blu of Team SLVR. Both were wearing similar martial art gis, but their styles were vastly different. Russell was more grounded with a much wider base and fought mainly with heavy punches, while Violet hopped around on the balls of her feet and struck at her opponent with powerful kicks; Hung Ga vs Taekwondo.

Cyrus chuckled, "looks like we've been evicted."

"Yea," Bianca giggled, "why don't we just do some regular work outs for a while? At least till they're done."

"Sounds like a plan," Cyrus replied.

Over the next hour, Bianca and Cyrus finished their workout and sparred once more before heading back to their dorm. On the way back, Bianca began to think. She began to formulate a plan of attack for defeating Apollo and Team STON.

Cyrus could easily tell when Bianca was carefully thinking something over and considering all the possibilities. Her eyes would wander at first, followed by the snapping of her fingers on her left hand and then the twirling of her side ponytail. He and the rest of Team BLAC tended not to bug their leader when she was in this state of thought, so currently Cyrus played it off like he hadn't noticed. However, he couldn't help but look when she started twirling her ponytail with her index finger, he thought it was kind of cute.

This day soon went and the next day came quickly. The students from Beacon gathered in the combat class rooms for the final day of Vytal Tournament Qualifiers, two matches that could determine if they made it into the main tourney or would be watching from the sidelines.

The first round was a hard fought one, especially between the teams who still had any hope of qualifying. The teams who had already been eliminated from contention or who would qualify no matter what didn't seem to care, with the notable exception of Team SSGE. They fought with the same zeal and determination that they always did and at the end of the first round, the team had expanded their record to fourteen wins and no losses.

Team AYST earned their eighth win, placing them in the qualifying bracket. They were ecstatic to say the least.

Teams BLAC and STON didn't face off against one another this round, but they certainly took the opportunity to observe each other closely. Both teams earned their seventh wins, putting them each on the edge of qualifying.

The students were given a few hours of respite before their final matches, Bianca had took this time to explain the plan she came up with to them. They had faith in their leader no matter what and bought into the plan whole heartedly.

The time for the second round to start came quickly and the students piled back into the combat classroom. As the matches persisted, Apollo routinely stared down Bianca with his typical smug expression. Teams AYST and SSGE scored their ninth and fifteenth victories respectively during this round. A few matches after Team SSGE was the finale, only two teams remained; Team BLAC and Team STON.

As Team BLAC stood across from their opponents Bianca's plan played through their minds; "The sum of our parts is greater than the sum of theirs… Alyssa, you take out Tawney, you're our best close combat fighter and that's where she has trouble. Lucas, you handle Oliver, he's their worst fighter and I know you're leaps and bounds ahead of him. Cyrus, best vs best, you keep Nikolas occupied, if you can knock him out then so be it. I'll handle Apollo myself. Once Tawney and Oliver are dealt with, Lucas you go to your brother, and you come to me Alyssa. From there, we'll converge on whoever's opponent is still standing."

Professor Haze stepped between the two teams and pointed to them, "fighters ready?"

Both teams drew or activated their weapons and got into their stances.

Professor Haze looked to both teams, "fight!"

As Team STON charged forward, Lucas shot a glyph under his feet and leapt into the air, he manifested three arrows of fire dust and shot them between each member of Team STON, separating them from one another and disorienting them momentarily.

Team BLAC rushed forward and went after their respective targets. When Apollo cleared the ash and smoke from around him, he saw Bianca standing before him.

"Huh, I thought you'd sick either your cousin or your partner on me," Apollo said, "I didn't think you'd have the guts to face me one on one."

Bianca didn't reply, she just raised her sabers.

"Alright then, lets do this!" Apollo punched his fists together twice and charged Bianca.

The battle raged as Alyssa went after Tawney. She loosed arrow after arrow trying to keep Alyssa away, Tawney knew her own weaknesses and she didn't want to fight one of the best brawlers in the class in close combat.

Alyssa skillfully dodged Tawney's barrage of arrows and returned fire with her shot gauntlets as she advanced. As Alyssa got closer, Tawney kept moving backwards whilst continuing to loose her arrows.

Tawney loosed two arrows at once, Alyssa dodged the first, but the second hit home. The force pushed the blonde faunus back a short distance. Tawney followed this up by upping her rate of fire, she knew the force of her arrows would deplete, but she hoped it better keep Alyssa at a manageable distance.

Alyssa was having none of this, she rolled out of the way of her opponent's volley and crouched as a sprinter would. She fired off a shot from her shot boots and flew forward with great speed. Tawney prepared to shoot another arrow as Alyssa came nearly within arm's reach.

As Tawney loosed her arrow, Alyssa fired one of her shot gauntlets at the ground, redirecting her momentum up and over her opponent.

Tawney slashed at Alyssa as she landed behind her, but Alyssa ducked under the blow and swept Tawney's legs from under her. She then threw and enormous punch into her opponent, sending her slamming into the ground and dropping her aura significantly.

Tawney quickly jumped back to her feet and struck Alyssa several times with the blades at the tips of her bow. She then quickly put some distance between herself and the blonde brawler.

Lucas and Oliver clashed swords, their weapons vastly different in design and use, but equally destructive.

Oliver shoved Lucas away and quickly switched his kukri into a pistol and let loose a volley of explosive dust rounds at his opponent.

Lucas ducked and dived through Oliver's volley, he drew his tanto, but didn't combine his weapons into their bow form. He shot a speed glyph under his own feet and rushed forward at Oliver.

Oliver didn't know what hit him, before he could react, Lucas struck him several times and sent him sliding across the combat stage.

He quickly jumped back up and charged back at Lucas, who now combined his weapons to form their yumi bow mode. He loosed a volley of lightning arrows at his opponent.

Oliver shot the arrows out of the sky with his weapon, before then switching it back to its kukri mode and hacking at Lucas.

Lucas parried Oliver's heavy strikes and jumped away with the help of one of his glyphs. As he jumped back, he pulled a small vile of Ice dust from the pocket of his track jacket and chucked it at Oliver's feet, encasing them in ice.

Oliver struggled to break free of the ice, as he looked to Lucas, he saw his opponent loose a fire dust arrow at him. The arrow struck near Oliver's feet and sent him flying across the combat stage.

Oliver tumbled across the stage until he came to rest at the feet of Tawney. His teammate quickly helped him up and the two faced off against their opponents.

Lucas ran up behind his partner, "Alyssa! Chartreux, now!"

"Right!" Alyssa jumped in the air with the help of her shot boots.

Oliver and Tawney made ready to engage Lucas, but just before he reached them, he shot a speed glyph beneath his feet and shot past the two of them, slashing them with both his weapons as he passed.

Alyssa then fell from the sky and landed between Oliver and Tawney, punching the ground and firing off a shot from her shot gauntlets, sending them flying out of the combat stage and dropping their auras into the red.

Cyrus and Nikolas found themselves nearly evenly matched in their fight. Both had gotten a few good hits in, but decisive blows were no where to be seen as of yet.

Cyrus swung down on Nikolas with his longsword, but he blocked the strike with his shield. Cyrus then pressed against Nikolas, attempting to push him off balance.

Nikolas pushed his opponent away with a forceful shove of his shield. He raised his shield and rested his sword on its rim.

Cyrus smiled cockily and flipped his weapon around and grasped it by the blade before then charging back in. He lifted his weapon and swung it down on Nikolas. When his opponent lifted his shield, Cyrus hooked it with his sword's cross guard.

Before Nikolas could attempt to strike back, Cyrus yanked his opponent's shield down and pulled him off balance and then thrust the pommel of his longsword into his gut.

Nikolas stumbled back, but before he could recompose himself, Cyrus whacked him over the head with the hilt of his sword, causing him to fall back even further. It was at this time that Cyrus was joined by his brother.

Nikolas shook his head to regain his senses, his helmet had helped cushion the blow, but it was still very forceful. When he looked up, he saw both Grey Brothers standing off against him. He smiled confidently and raised his sword and shield.

Bianca had been toying with Apollo this entire time, she blocked and parried his strikes, but never struck him back, he had been growing visibly angry from this.

Apollo threw a left hook at Bianca, a blow she quickly dodged, causing Apollo to stumble slightly.

"Ugh! Hit me already!" He shouted.

Bianca said nothing and just stared down her opponent.

"We're supposed to be fighting! So hit me dammit!" Apollo rushed forward.

"If you insist," Bianca side stepped Apollo's blow, revealing Alyssa standing right behind her.

Alyssa landed a punch square in Apollo's face, sending him tumbling backwards, if not for his aura, his nose would've been severely broken.

Apollo stood and noticed that both Tawney and Oliver had been knocked out. His anger increased, he pounded his armored boxing gloves together and charged back in.

The match evolved from a series of one-on-one fights to a pair of two-on-one's, exactly what Bianca had planned for. Despite this however, she knew this wasn't going to be the easy portion of the match, that had already passed.

Lucas loosed an arrow from his bow at Nikolas as Cyrus charged in. Nikolas blocked the arrow with his shield and then parried Cyrus' slash with his short sword.

Cyrus jumped back and switched his weapon to its shotgun mode as Lucas split his bow apart and charged in at Nikolas. Cyrus fired a volley at he and his brother's opponent, causing him to duck behind his shield.

Nikolas stayed behind his shield as Lucas swung his weapon, attempting to strike the armored warrior. Nikolas thrust his sword at Lucas when he raised up his own weapon, exposing himself.

Lucas was forced to jump back, and Nikolas took this opportunity and rushed Lucas. Cyrus fired another volley in an attempt to cover his brother, but Nikolas blocked the shots with his shield once more.

Nikolas slashed at Lucas with his short sword, but the blow was parried. He followed up his first attack by punching Lucas with the rim of his shield, staggering him.

The heavy blow dropped Lucas's aura dangerously low. As he attempted to regain himself and rush back in, Nikolas threw his shield at him. The improvised projectile struck Lucas in the chest and knocked him out of the match.

At this time, Apollo was put on the backfoot in his fight with Bianca and Alyssa, he barely managed to dodge and parry their combined attacks.

Alyssa fired several shots from her gauntlets, forcing Apollo to dodge, lest he be hit. At the same time, Bianca rushed in and slashed at him with her sabers. Apollo quickly blocked Bianca's attack and countered it with a heavy left hook, knocking her away.

"I'm done playing around with you!" Apollo shouted.

Apollo's aura began to visibly glow as Alyssa rushed him. The two engaged in close combat, Alyssa throwing combinations of punches and circular kicks, while Apollo countered them strictly with punches.

His strikes grew faster and harder, his arms recoiled and shot forward like that of a machine gun and peppered Alyssa.

Alyssa boosted her semblance by channeling her aura into it, thus pushing her senses into overdrive. She easily sensed the subtle movements of Apollo's muscles allowing her to predict his attacks several moves in advance.

At the moment the two were evenly matched, blocking, dodging, and parrying each other's attacks, but it wouldn't last. With their semblances active, their aura's drained quickly.

Apollo landed a few huge punches to Alyssa's gut that plummeted her aura into the red and knocked her out of the match.

Apollo deactivated his semblance, "yeah! Let's go!"

Cyrus and Nikolas were locked in one-on-one combat once again after Lucas was knocked out of the fight. However, Nikolas had lost his shield and was now outmatched by Cyrus with his longer and larger weapon.

Cyrus controlled the pace of their fight, taking swipes at his opponent and quickly backing away when Nikolas attempted a counter attack.

Both their auras were fairly low, and Nikolas wanted to end this fight now. He charged forward at Cyrus, a huge risk.

As Nikolas got close Cyrus swung his longsword at him. Nikolas blocked the strike and slid his weapon down the blade of his opponent.

Cyrus quickly reversed his grip on his weapon and struck Nikolas with the pommel as he struck him with his short sword. This exchange left Cyrus with a dangerously low aura, one more blow and he'd be out, however Nikolas was knocked out of the match.

Bianca stood across from Apollo, he beat on his chest and raised his fists. Bianca in turn moved to combine her sabers to form her scythe.

"Not on my watch Pruned Rose!" Apollo activated his semblance and charged forward.

Bianca was forced to cease combining her weapons and fall back from her opponent. Apollo however, kept up the chase and didn't let up.

"Bianca! Pieces of Eight!" Cyrus shouted.

Cyrus swung his longsword at Apollo forcing him to halt his chase of Bianca. He lifted his weapon and swung down on Apollo with it.

Apollo ducked under the blow and landed a punch square in Cyrus' breastplate. This blow was enough to knock Cyrus out of the match.

Apollo turned to see Bianca charging him with aid of her semblance, her scythe fully formed. As she got close he attempted to strike her with his lightning fast jabs, but she changed direction on a dime and was now in the air above him.

Bianca activated her semblance once more and spun like a tornado. She struck Apollo more times than anyone could count on her way down. His aura sank into the red as there was no way he could defend against this attack.

Bianca landed in a kneeling position, her scythe held behind her back with the blade pointing towards the ceiling. The match was over.

"Yeah we won!" Alyssa yelled.

"Vytal Tournament here we come!" Lucas shouted.

Cyrus walked up to Nikolas and helped him up, "not bad for our first match against one another."

Nikolas accepted Cyrus' help, "it was, but you won't be so lucky next time."

As Apollo punched the ground in frustration at his team's defeat, he heard some footsteps approach him. He looked up to see Bianca sheath her sabers and extend her hand to help him up.

"Good match," she said with a smile.

Apollo sneered at her and smacked her hand away as he pushed himself off the ground. He pushed past her as he made his way back to the room's seating area.

As Bianca was forced to turn by Apollo, she saw Cyrus. He briefly glared at him, but then turned his attention to her. Cyrus smiled and held up a thumbs up to Bianca, she joyfully returned the gesture.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry about the long delay with this chapter, I've had a crazy month and just couldn't keep up with it. This story is not dead, I can promise you that!**

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Chapter Eight: Dance the Night Away

The Vytal Dance was two days away now. Kim and the master tailor she worked under had finished the final preparations on Team BLAC and AYST's outfits for the event. The boys of the two teams had just left the tailor's shop with their outfits and were headed back to Haven Academy. All their outfits were protected inside sturdy garment bags.

"Man, they killed it with these tuxes," Cyrus said.

"Yes, they did indeed kill it," Yin replied.

"Ya know, I wonder what the girl's dresses look like?" Cyrus inquired.

"We'll see the day of the dance," Lucas stated, "seeing as how good our outfits came out, the girls' must be just as good."

"Speaking of the girl's dresses," Roy chimed in, "Yin, I heard Al wasn't getting one made, what's up with that?"

"She brought a traditional dress from her island when we came to Beacon," Yin replied, "when she heard there was to be a dance for the festival she packed it. Surely you've seen it hanging in our closet."

"I don't go in there much, all my stuff is in the drawers under my bed," Roy replied.

"Fair enough," Yin stated.

"So…" Roy turned his attention to the Grey Brothers, "you guys find dates yet?"

"I'm probably just going to go stag," Lucas replied nonchalantly, "most of the girls I know here all have dates anyway."

"What about Tawney?" Roy inquired.

"She's nice, but she'll most likely be going with her partner," Lucas replied.

"What girl wouldn't want to go with Nikolas," Cyrus chuckled.

"Speaking of girls," Lucas turned to his brother, "have you asked Bianca to the dance yet?"

Cyrus seemed to freeze at the question, he continued to walk, but his upper body remained stiff looking and his face had turned a slight shade of red.

"Uh…" Cyrus laughed nervously, "no, I haven't."

"Why not man?" Roy inquired, "we can all tell that you like her, and I'm willing to bet that she likes you back."

"I don't know, we're partners, but I've never really seen her in that way," Cyrus stumbled over his words.

"Bullshit," Lucas said through a fake cough causing the other two boys to laugh.

Cyrus punched his brother in the shoulder, "shut up."

"Come on man, you're not fooling anyone," Roy stated.

"Yes, it is apparent, no matter how much you try to play it off, that you do have some feelings for Bianca," Yin added.

"I'm not going to confirm that," Cyrus replied, "but what if I did?"

"Then ask her to the dance man," Lucas said.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Roy stated.

Cyrus thought to himself as he continued to walk with his brother and friends. He thought about what they had said, about Bianca. They were right, no matter how much he tried to play it off, he did indeed have feelings for his partner. He thought she was perfect in every way, she was kind, smart, fun, and on top of all that she already was, she had beauty to match. The most beautiful thing about her was the first thing he noticed, her eyes. Even though they were silver like his, they had something more to them, depth, personality, the drive to be better than she already is.

As the boys of Teams BLAC and AYST were making there way back to Haven, the girls of the teams were having lunch in Haven's cafeteria. As Alyssa, Alani, and Ebony were talking amongst themselves, Bianca was quiet, many things were on her mind; an upcoming test, combat training, but mostly the dance at the end of the week and the person she wanted to go with.

"How do I ask him?" Bianca mumbled aloud.

"How do you ask who?" Alyssa inquired.

Bianca turned red as a strawberry, "huh!? You heard that!?"

The other three girls burst out laughing at their friend's embarrassment. Bianca's embarrassment turned to annoyance at her friends for laughing at her.

"Thinking about Cyrus, are we?" Alyssa teased.

"N-no," Bianca stuttered, her face still bright red.

"Oh come on B, quit being so shy," Alyssa poked her cousin with her elbow, "the dance is in a couple of days, why don't you ask Cyrus to take you, I'm sure he'd say yes."

"Bianca, trust me," Ebony stood and placed her hand on her friend's shoulder, "we've all seen the way you look at him and we've seen the way he looks at you, give it a shot, I'm sure it'll be worth it."

"How would I even ask him though?" Bianca asked as Ebony sat back down.

"Just talk to him," Alani said, "you two are friends, so it shouldn't be too hard to bring it up."

"I'll tell you what," Alyssa chimed in, "when the boys get back, if you want some alone time with Cyrus, Luc and I will go hang with Team AYST."

"I'd be ok with that," Ebony stated.

Alani nodded in agreement to Alyssa's idea.

"Yea," Bianca replied albeit a bit apprehensively. She would go along with her cousin's plan, but she didn't know if she would have the courage to ask Cyrus. Even if she did, she didn't know if he would accept or not.

The girls finished their lunch and headed back to their dorms. Along the way, Alyssa, Alani, and Ebony kept reassuring Bianca that all she had to do was speak up about how she felt and maybe Cyrus would accept her feelings, but she still felt uneasy.

As they approached the dormitory they were staying in, they saw the boys of both their teams walking up to the door. They were all smiling and laughing amongst one another. Bianca's heart began to flutter as she saw Cyrus, the nervousness inside her growing.

As they entered the building, Cyrus quickly turned, and he saw the girls making their way towards them. As he saw Bianca, he gulped, and his cheeks turned a slight shade of red. Before entering he waved to them, a gesture all of them returned.

As the girls reached their rooms, they saw the boys hanging up their outfits for the dance in their room's closets. Ebony and Alani entered their room as Bianca and Alyssa stood outside theirs for a moment.

Alyssa placed her hand on her cousin's shoulder, "you can do this."

Bianca took a deep breath and nodded with a confident smile.

Alyssa slid open the wood and rice paper door and Bianca walked in and sat on her bed. As she did this, Alyssa motioned for Lucas to come to her, after which she pulled him out of the room.

"What was that about?" Cyrus asked.

"I don't know," Bianca lied, "hey, can we talk for a second?"

"Yea, sure," Cyrus replied, "actually theirs been something I've been meaning to ask you anyway."

"Really? What is it?" Bianca inquired.

Cyrus sat on his bed across from Bianca. He felt nervous, but un beknown to him she did as well. The two of them cared much for one another as friends and partners but each were unsure if the other felt more behind that.

Cyrus went to speak but got choked up. He quickly cleared his throat, "you know what, how about you go first."

Bianca turned a bit red, "oh no, you go, please."

Cyrus took note of Bianca's blush, and he calmed himself, "how about this, on three we say it at the same time."

Bianca took a deep breath, "ok."

"Ready?" Cyrus said.

"1…"

As Cyrus spoke the final count Bianca's head and heart began to race with the thoughts of what he might ask her. She thought of backing out and changing her question. They raced in her mind for what seemed like hours but were only mere seconds.

"2…"

At the last moment something shot from her heart to her mind. It told her to stop hiding her feelings and face this moment like it was an opponent in the combat arena, one that she wouldn't fail to overcome.

"3…"

"Would you like to go to the dance with me?" Both blurted out simultaneously.

Cyrus went wide-eyed and Bianca covered her mouth in surprise. They were filled with happiness at what they heard the other say and smiles adorned their faces.

Bianca uncovered her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything Cyrus took her hand. He stared into her silver orbs and she stared back.

"I'd love to," he said.

"Yes!" Alyssa's voice could be heard on the other side of the rice paper and wood door.

"Shush, they'll hear us," Ebony stated.

Cyrus and Bianca looked towards the door, with slightly surprised looks on their faces. However instead of being annoyed at their friends for spoiling the moment, they chuckled at their antics. They believed nothing could spoil this moment.

The day of the dance crept ever closer as the students of the various academies tried to find dates and decide what to wear. Meanwhile, Team SLVR was finishing up the final preparations for the main hall. The dance was looked forward to by many a student as a day to relax, have a good time, and not worry about anything. However, some found themselves worried about the dance itself.

Cyrus stood in front of the changing room mirror as he inspected his dark gray tuxedo for any faults. It hugged and contoured to his muscular physique but wasn't too tight. The cuffs fit snug to his wrists and the sleeves were the perfect length. His slacks were long, but didn't touch the floor, stopping at his ankles. He double and triple checked, but he couldn't find anything wrong with the finely made garment.

Lucas was straitening his light gray jacket, he wasn't that interested in formal ware but for the dance he could make an exception. As he was getting ready he saw his brother fidgeting with his outfit in the mirror. He noticed that his brother's nervousness was growing the closer the dance came, and with it less than an hour away he would need to calm himself if he was going to have a good night.

Lucas walked up to Cyrus, "hey man, it's not going to fit any better."

"I know, but something just doesn't seem right," he replied.

"The tux is fine, it's you that's not right," Lucas stated, "come on, tell me what's up."

Cyrus sighed, "what if I screw up tonight? Like accidently dumping punch on Bianca or even step on her feet while we're dancing. All these possibilities are just running through my head right now."

Lucas placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, "you need to chill, you're just nervous. Everything is going to go fine, you're not the least bit clumsy and you're one of the best dancers I know. You'll be fine."

"Yeah, but what if…" He was cut off.

"Cyrus." Lucas shot, "relax, it'll be fine."

Cyrus took a deep breath, "ok, I'll try to relax."

"Alright then," Lucas replied, "now come on, we've gotta go get the girls."

As Cyrus and Lucas exited their team's room, they were followed by Roy and Yin. They had separated rooms with the girls of their respective teams, with them taking team AYST's dorm to change. Roy's outfit wasn't much different from the Grey Brothers', it was a silver-blue tuxedo, but the coat had a swallow tail to it. Yin's was the most drastically different though, it consisted of a long-sleeved, mostly black changshan that hugged his athletic build, along with a pair of black slacks and dress shoes. The right sleeve was white however, and it transitioned into the outline of a wolf's head on his chest that wrapped around the back and was mirrored on his right shoulder blade.

Lucas nocked on the adjacent room's door, a few seconds went by before he was answered.

"Yes?" Alani's voice called out.

"You guys ready yet?" Lucas asked.

"Yea, we'll be out in a second," Alani replied.

A few moments passed and then the door to the room slid open and the girls walked out into the hallway. Kim was with them, she had come up to the academy since she was Ebony's date to the dance.

Alani wore a traditional sarong dress from her island, it was decorated much the same as her lavalava skirt; solid orange with white hibiscus flowers, it seemed loose and baggy, but it hugged her curvy figure nicely. Along with the dress, she also wore a crown made of orange hibiscus flowers and her usual brown kukui nut lei. She walked up to Yin and placed a lei made of white hibiscus flowers around his neck.

Kim approached Yin and inspected the addition to the outfit she designed for the wolf faunus. She smiled as she turned to Alani and gave her a thumb up in approval.

Ebony and Kim wore complimenting qipao dresses that fit comfortably to the curves of their bodies. Ebony's was royal blue with navy accents and a pattern of flowering vines. While Kim's had the same patterns, but her dress was gold and white. They also wore heels that matched their dresses.

Roy smiled and nodded at Alyssa's dress, causing her to blush with slight embarrassment. It was strapless with puffed shoulders, long, and golden, extending down to the floor. It also had a wide belt of black cloth that wrapped around her waist and hung slightly from her right hip. Finally, she wore a pair of black heels and matching elbow length gloves. She looked like a princess, which technically she was considering her grandfather is the Chieftain of Menagerie.

Bianca looked a bit timid stepping out into the hallway, but all Cyrus could do was notice how beautiful she looked. Her face was done up in slightly more makeup than she normally wore, her cheeks were rosy from blush and her light eyes were accentuated by her dark eyeliner. Her dress was very befitting of her, strapless and white around the breast. It also had a high waist that led down to a skirt just a bit longer and more flared than that of her combat outfit. The material it was made of also had a bit of a shine and light sparkle to it as the light hit it. Along with all this, she wore a pair of white heels that made her a couple inches taller.

Cyrus walked up to his date, "y-you look nice."

Bianca blushed nervously, "th-thanks."

Lucas walked between Cyrus and Bianca, placing a hand on each of their shoulders, "come on you two, enough with the shyness, it's time to loosen up a bit."

Cyrus took a deep breath and offered his arm to Bianca, "shall we?"

Bianca accepted and the two began to walk down the hall, followed by their teammates and friends. As they walked together, Bianca had a slight smile on her face. This was the first time she had felt genuinely happy in months.

As the nine of them made their way to Haven's main hall, their combat professor, Ember Haze was overseeing the dance's attendees. She had volunteered to be one of the chaperones for the event. Unlike other's she didn't dress up, instead opting for her normal formfitting maroon sleeveless changshan, slate gray arm sleeves, slacks, and slip-on shoes.

She and another professor, a one Flynt Coal, the head combat professor at Atlas Academy welcomed the students to the dance. Flynt still sported a very similar outfit to the one he wore in his youth; however, he now tied his tie and tucked it under his vest that now sported pinstripes to match his pants. His sunglasses hung from the center of his collar for the time being as the sun had begun to dip below the horizon.

"So, how's the wife?" Ember asked.

"Neon's fine," Flynt replied, "she's back in Atlas filling in for me while I'm here."

"How about your son, I haven't seen him tonight. I thought I heard he qualified for the tournament this year?" She inquired.

"He'll be here, junior is like me, likes to be fashionably late," Flynt chuckled.

"I see," Ember laughed.

As she said this, her scroll rang. When she checked it, she saw it was her fiancé. "I have to take this."

"Go on, I got this," Flynt replied.

Ember stepped away from the door for a moment and answered her scroll, "hey honey."

"Hey, how's the dance?" Jamie asked.

"Would be better if you were here," Ember smiled.

Jamie chuckled, "wish I could, but don't worry, we'll have our dance soon."

"So, how are thing's at the bar?" Ember asked.

"Everything is good, I'm almost done preparing for people who want to watch the tournament," he replied.

"You're not installing three more TV's, are you?" Ember asked smartly.

Jaime snickered, "no, you know I did that after my dad left me the place, I'm making sure I've got extra inventory of everything."

Ember laughed, "it will get crazy."

"Anyway, how've you been? How are they treating you over there?" Jaime asked.

"It's been good, better than expected really," Ember replied.

"What do you mean?" Jaime inquired.

"Well, I talked to my friend Sierra and she's agreed to be my maid of honor," Ember said.

"That's one thing off the wedding checklist," Jaime replied.

"I've also smoothed things over with my Sifu," Ember stated, "she's even agreed to come to the wedding."

"That's great!" Jaime said, "I'm glad you could finally do that, I know it's been eating at you for a while now."

"It does feel good, like a weight has been lifted off my chest," Ember said.

"So, do you know how much longer you're going to be in Mistral?" Jaime inquired.

"Including this week" Ember thought for a moment, "just over a month, until the tournament and festival are over."

"I'm not sure I can wait that long," Jaime joked.

"Well if you do, there'll be something special for you when I get home," Ember flirted.

"I like the sound of that," Jaime replied.

Teams BLAC and AYST, along with Kim approached the main hall of Haven Academy. It was a magnificent three tiered pagoda, not the tallest of the campus, but certainly one of the most ornate. They were greeted by Professors Haze and Coal when they approached the entrance of the building. They entered a large open room, two large staircases curved around the perimeter leading to a balcony overlooking the ground floor. The floorboards were a three-tone combination of brown, khaki, and cream, with the latter two colors forming rows that lead to a raised platform in the back center of the room. This central platform was flanked by a pair of two-tiered staircases and a marble statue of a woman at the front giving the illusion it was holding it up. Around the edges of the room were chairs for the attendees to sit and tables filled with gourmet food and drink.

Many of the attendees were in the center of the room dancing and most of the group joined them. The music being played by a rather flashily, yet sharply, dressed band on the raised platform sounded like an upbeat combination of R&B, Reggae, and Disco. However, Lucas made his way towards the punch bowl and leaned against the table while grabbing something to drink, and Cyrus and Bianca grabbed some food from a nearby table.

"This stuff is pretty good," Bianca said after eating some of the sushi she picked up off the table.

"Mhmm," Cyrus agreed, his mouth still full of food.

"So… do you want to go to the dance floor after we finish?" Bianca asked a bit timidly.

Cyrus swallowed his food, "it's a dance, what else is there to do," he chuckled, hiding his own nervousness.

Bianca giggled, "well, your brother seems to have found something else."

Cyrus turned to see his brother casually leaning back on the table with the punch and lazily sipping his drink.

"He'll open up eventually," Cyrus chuckled, "anyway, to the dance floor?"

"Lets," Bianca replied.

As they made their way to the dance floor, the two of them were approached by Sierra Nahla. She had on a long beautiful redwood colored dress with a high slit up her right leg and high heels to match.

"Hey, Bianca and Cyrus was it?" She asked.

"Yea, that's us, what's up?" Bianca asked.

"I've been meaning to talk to you two for a while, but I've been busy between classes and training for the tournament," Sierra said.

"What did you want to talk to us about?" Cyrus inquired.

"It's about this," Sierra pointed to one of her eyes, "we all share the same trait."

Cyrus and Bianca looked at one another and then back to Sierra. Bianca spoke, "ok… what are you telling us?"

"Meet me tomorrow after classes," Sierra said, "the gardens behind the training hall, I'll elaborate more then. Just know this, it's of the upmost importance."

"We'll be there," Bianca replied.

Cyrus nodded in agreement.

"Great! I'll see you both then," Sierra headed off, presumably to rejoin her date or teammates.

Cyrus looked to Bianca and held out his hand, "back to what we planned?"

"Y-yeah," Bianca blushed slightly as she took his hand and was led to the dance floor.

The dance floor was ripe with movement, the dancers moved in rhythm with the upbeat ballads the band was preforming. One of the first songs Cyrus and Bianca danced to was a modern disco track about treasuring a loved one. It's beat didn't invite the most intimate of dances, but the two of them both remained close to one another as they flowed with the song.

As the night went on, they found themselves having too much fun to be nervous about the situation they were in. Their friends and teammates were also having an amazing time at the dance; Roy and Alyssa were a bit more intimate with one another than Bianca and Cyrus while they danced, while Alani and Yin moved to the beat of the music but mixed in a bit of hula style from the islands. Ebony and Kim however, had made their way to the food table next to where Lucas was standing.

As they went on with the night, a few girls near the entrance let a out a fangirl screech, gaining the looks of more than a few of the room's occupants. A dark-skinned cat-faunus boy walked in, followed by three similarly dressed boys, presumably all faunus as well. He wore a triple black tuxedo and dark tinted black sunglasses; odd for nighttime. He wore his hair in a jheri curl fashion.

Bianca ceased dancing, "who's that?"

"No idea," Cyrus replied.

They then overheard a couple of people next to them, "holy crap, is that Eazy-F, why's he here?"

"He's a third year at Atlas Academy and their head combat professor's son," another person replied.

"What's the front man of F.W.A doing at a huntsman academy?" A person asked.

"Wanted to follow in his parent's footsteps is what I heard, he's also a favorite to make it to the finals of the tournament," another person replied.

Eazy-F stopped and so did the three boys following him. He took off his glasses and tucked them into the pocket of his jacket and then popped his collar, "ladies, gentlemen, the party has arrived."

Bianca rolled her eyes and chuckled when she heard him say that last bit, "come on, let's get back to dancing."

As Cyrus and Bianca went back to the dance floor, Ebony and Kim were checking out the dance's latest arrival.

"He's cute," Kim said.

"Very," Ebony replied.

"I'm gonna go talk to him," Kim said.

"Good luck getting through the fan-girls," Ebony laughed.

"I'll be right back," Kim kissed her girlfriend on the cheek.

As Ebony watched her girlfriend head over to talk with the boy, who was now crowded by many people, she saw Tawney sitting alone at the other end of the room. Like the others she had assumed she would be with her partner tonight, but Nikolas was no where to be seen. She then noticed Lucas leaning against the punch table while being very antisocial. So, she made her way over to him.

"Not having fun?" Ebony asked.

"Huh? Nah, this is fun, just not in the mood to dance," Lucas replied.

"Right," Ebony replied skeptically, "you know how we thought Tawney was going to the dance with Nikolas?"

"Yeah, why?" Lucas inquired.

"Well, it looks like we were wrong," Kim pointed to Tawney, "why don't you stop being antisocial and go ask her to dance."

Lucas looked from Tawney and back to his friend. He finished his punch and tossed the empty cup into the trash before making his way across the room. He approached the lonely girl, she had on a simple, yet elegant brown dress.

"Hey Lucas, what's up?" She asked.

"Not much, where's Nikolas? I thought you two would be coming here together?" He said.

"Nikolas already had a date," she pointed to where her partner was on the dance floor.

Lucas turned to see Nikolas dancing with another boy, "oh… ohhh!"

"Yeah, and I'm sure as hell not going to this with Apollo or Oliver," she stated bluntly.

"I figured as much," Lucas chuckled awkwardly.

"Yeah…" Tawney's voice trailed off.

Lucas rubbed the back of his neck, "would you like to dance?"

Tawney was a bit surprised by his question, but she smiled at Lucas nonetheless, "I'd love too."

Everyone danced for hours, but it didn't seem like that long to anyone. After all, time does fly. The song the band was currently playing, was about staying up all night and trying to get lucky. It was more of a modern disco tune, with dashes of techno, rather than the R&B and Reggae they had been playing. By this point it was getting close to midnight, and the dance would conclude soon. Once their current number ended, the band took a quick break, as did the dancers. However, the band had one last song to play before the night was over.

"You're a really good dancer, you know that?" Bianca said.

"I'm alright," Cyrus chuckled, "I'm far better at fighting."

"When I was taught to dance, my mom told me that fighting and dancing weren't too different. Two partners interlocked, however a mistake here only leads to a swollen foot… or a twisted ankle." Bianca replied.

"Your parents had an interesting way of putting things," Cyrus laughed.

"Yeah," Bianca giggled.

Bianca's smile faded from her face as she remembered the state her mother Ruby was in. She tried her best to hide it from Cyrus, but he saw it nonetheless.

The lead singer stepped to the microphone, gaining the attention of most of the dancers, "alright everyone, this next song is for couples, so grab a partner,"

The lights around the dance floor dimmed and the dancers began to pair off with their partners as the song started. Among those were Alyssa and Roy, Alani and Yin, and Ebony and Kim. Lucas and Tawney had decided to sit this one out and relax for the last bit of the dance, but they stayed together to talk.

Cyrus turned to Bianca, "care for one more dance?"

She looked around at how closely everyone was dancing and the thought of being that close to Cyrus made her blush madly.

"S…sure," she took Cyrus's hand.

With her right hand, she took his left and he placed his right on her waist. Cyrus had remained pokerfaced, but he was very nervous, just as much as she was. Cyrus being nearly a foot taller than Bianca made it awkward for her to try and rest her arm on his shoulder, as many others were doing. Instead, she simply rested her hand on his chest.

This was the most intimate they had been all night, and the closest their bodies had been to one another ever. Both were tense at first, but as they flowed around each other they loosened up.

Silver met silver as they danced. They flowed and moved together with the same ease as they fought. Their movements were slow and methodical, yet graceful as well, thus matching the rhythm of the song. Everything except the music faded from the world around them and for a moment it was just the two of them. Neither had the nerves to truly tell the other how they felt, but in this moment, it didn't matter.

The song had reached its conclusion, and with it, the dance as a whole. All the dancers turned and clapped for the band and they returned a gracious bow to their audience. Teams BLAC and AYST, along with Kim and Tawney cleared out of the main hall with the rest of the dance's attendees. Bianca and Cyrus lagged behind however.

"I had a great time," Bianca said shyly.

"Me too," Cyrus replied, "I'm glad we came together."

Bianca blushed as she and her partner stopped walking and faced one another. The moonlight shown down on the two of them. The light reflecting off their silver orbs as they gazed at one another.

Without thinking and unknown to either, they had taken each other's hands and moved closer, closer than they had even been while dancing. When they eventually did notice, neither could bring themselves to stop, they didn't want to.

Bianca stood on her tip-toes as they both closed their eyes and their faces came closer to one another. Both their hearts began to race as the sensation of the other came closer and closer until…

"Hurry up slowpokes, it's late!" Ebony called out.

Bianca and Cyrus quickly pulled away from one another, her face a slight shade of red, and his nervous-looking. They hurried to catch up with their friends, feeling annoyed because of the interruption, yet also relieved in a way.

Unbeknownst to the group, they were being watched as they made their way back to the dorms. From the shadows, Rouge, Jet, and Nilah watched what had just happened.

"What shall we do my lady?" Jet asked apathetically.

"Should we purge the Grey Brothers before they get too close with their partners?" Nilah inquired manically.

"It appears that time has passed," Rouge paused for a moment as if to think. She smiled and turned to her subordinates, "we can use this to our advantage, follow me."

The three of them continued to tail their targets all the way back to their dormitory.


	9. Chapter 9

**Quick preface; this chapter references some events from Volume One of this story, titled 'RWBY BLAC', so if you haven't read that volume you may feel a little lost. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.**

* * *

Chapter Nine: Silver Linings

As his teammates settled down in their dorm, Cyrus made his way to the roof of the building to get some fresh air and reflect on the night. The cold night air pushed its way through his jacket as he leaned on the low wall at the edge of the roof. He chuckled at Ebony's impeccable timing when he had almost kissed Bianca. He wasn't the least bit mad about it. As he reminisced, Cyrus heard something drop to the ground behind him, when he turned, he saw Jet and Nilah standing there, staring at him.

"You two," he raised his fists.

A short sword blade was pressed against his throat, it's edge yearning to bite into his flesh, "let's not get too hasty now."

Rouge walked from next to Cyrus to in front of him, adjusting her sword blade to where it's point was just barely contacting his throat. He lowered his fists, even if he wanted to fight, this woman's sword would pierce his neck before he could activate his aura.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Cyrus struggled to say with the sword pressed to his neck.

"The name's Rouge," she replied, "I wanted to talk."

"Well that's going to be a bit difficult for me," Cyrus replied.

Rouge pulled the blade away from Cyrus's neck and the blade retracted into the handle, she then hooked the weapon to her belt. Cyrus rubbed his neck as Jet and Nilah walked closer to Rouge, their weapons drawn and ready to strike.

"My friends here have been keeping a close eye on you and your team as you may already know," Rouge said, "they have deemed you and your brother irredeemable, but I see otherwise."

"If you kill me, you best be sure that my brother will hunt you down, you don't know what…" he was cut off.

"I'm fully aware of what the Gray Death and Black Beast are capable of, after all, you two were hitmen in the Vale underground," Rouge stated.

"How do you know about that?" Cyrus demanded.

"I also know that your teammates are the only one's you two have ever told about that," Rouge paused, "anyway, onto business."

Cyrus didn't say anything, he remained alert and sneered at Rouge.

"I've seen how you and your brother want to better yourselves and I find that commendable." Rouge began to pace. "We've come to the conclusion that there is a place for you and your brother's partners in my service, but due to recent events, I've decided that it'd be best if you joined us as well."

"So, you just want my brother and I so Bianca and Alyssa will join you then, well news flash, even if we did, they never would," Cyrus said.

Rouge chuckled, "no, I want you and your brother to join me because I deem you worthy of the redemption you two crave, if that results in your partners joining as well then that'd be wonderful. Besides, I believe they will nonetheless."

Rouge pulled out her scroll and played two videos. The first was from the night Alyssa and Lucas had fought off the gang of one of the Grey Brothers' old associates, Flynn Redman. Cyrus knew that fight had brought the two of them closer as partners and that they would follow each other into hell after that night. The second video was from earlier this very night, when Cyrus and Bianca very nearly had their first kiss before being interrupted. Rouge knew their team was close and she aimed to use that as leverage against them.

"The time will come for you and your teammates to make a choice," Rouge said as she pocketed her scroll, "you'll know when that time is."

"Oh, and if you tell anyone about this before its time, my lady has given permission for brother and I to cleanse you and your friends in whatever way we see fit," Nilah said psychotically.

Jet manifested a black mist around himself, Nilah, and Rouge, and the three disappeared into the shadows.

Cyrus stood there for a moment before collapsing to his knees, he had never felt so helpless in his entire life. They could have killed him right then and there, but instead they decide to toy with him. He felt conflicted, should he take up their offer in order to keep his friends safe, or should he risk denying them and put his friends in harm's way?

The next day quickly came and the students were back to the grind. Classes resumed at their normal times regardless of last night's activities, much to many a student's annoyance. Alyssa who was not a morning person whatsoever was certainly feeling it, especially after only getting six hours of sleep. The students could complain all they want, but in the end, they had to suck it up and move on with their day.

After classes ended that day, Bianca and Cyrus headed to the gardens to meet Sierra as she had requested the night before. Cyrus was uneasy because of the events on the roof last night and Bianca noticed.

"Hey, are you doing alright?" She asked, "you've been… off today."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied, "just tired is all."

"Are you sure, you know you can talk to me," she said.

"Yes, I'm sure, let's just get this over with so we can go back to the dorm and rest," Cyrus stated.

The entrance to Haven's gardens were lined with cherry blossom trees in full bloom. Some of the petals had begun to fall off and were dancing in the air as they floated to the ground, they reminded Bianca of her semblance's aftereffect. Along with the cherry blossoms, many other flowering plants were present on the walkway; Camellia, Morning Glories, and Cosmos just to name a few, although not all were in bloom.

Bianca and Cyrus rounded a corner, to their right was a small section of the garden made up of mostly bonsai trees. Within this section of the garden there were many people trimming and pruning the plants. To their left was a clearing with a Koi pond in the center, sitting on her knees at the edge of the pond was Sierra.

"Um… Sierra?" Bianca said.

She held up her hand, nonverbally asking them to wait a moment. She placed her hand back on her thigh and continued to face the pond, her eyes shut, and chest rising from deep focused breaths. She was meditating.

Cyrus and Bianca stood there for a bit and waited for Sierra to do or say something. They exchanged looks of confusion with one another as they waited. After a few awkwardly silent minutes, Sierra took one final breath and stood to face them.

"Sorry for keeping you," she said, "please, make yourselves comfortable."

Cyrus and Bianca looked around for a moment before noticing a stone bench, which they promptly sat down on.

"How much do you two know about your heritage?" Sierra asked.

An odd question, but the two of them decided to answer it nonetheless.

"Um… my family is supposedly descended from the rulers of the Kingdom of Helios, the nation that preceded Vale," Cyrus said.

"Ok," Sierra replied and then turned to Bianca, "what about you?"

"Uh… I had a great grandparent who fought in the Great War and another that founded the Schnee Dust Company, that's about as far back as I know," Bianca said.

"Ok," Sierra nodded, "not exactly what I meant, but you're on the right track."

Bianca and Cyrus looked at each other with confusion. What did she mean that wasn't what she meant? It sounded like a fairly straight forward question to both of them.

"Do you know how many people have been reported to have silver eyes, be it one or both irises?" Sierra asked.

Cyrus and Bianca shook their heads.

"Out of all two billion people who live on Remnant, less than five thousand have the trait," Sierra paused, "and until recently I thought I was the only one to have accessed their abilities."

"You know how to control your powers?" Bianca asked in disbelief.

"Yes, but we'll get to that later," Sierra replied, "for now you should know a little history."

Bianca and Cyrus sat up attentively as Sierra began to pace in front of them.

"Every culture, religion, and nation on Remnant has its own founding myths, I'm sure you two have heard at least a few in your lives or even believe one over the others." She paused, "but they all share a few common features, the creation of our peoples, either both, or just one, and the creation of the Grimm. However, these common features do vary. Some say our peoples were created, then dark forces conspired to destroy us by creating Grimm. Others say the Grimm were created first and we were created to stop their path of destruction."

"Ok… so, what does this have to do with us?" Cyrus asked, "I don't see how this has to do with the three of us sharing the same rare trait."

"I'm getting to that," Sierra replied.

"Sorry about my partner," Bianca gave Cyrus a look, "he can be a bit impatient sometimes."

"It's fine," Sierra replied, "anyway, back to what I was saying. Regardless of the order you put things, there has always been conflict between our peoples and the Grimm. And the Grimm have always had the advantage. Whenever we kill one, another takes its place, we were barely able to survive our earliest histories until…"

"Until the discovery of Dust," Bianca said.

"No, actually," Sierra stated.

This correction took both Bianca and Cyrus off guard. To them, it was common knowledge that the discovery of Dust was what saved humanity and the faunus from extinction at the hands of the Grimm. To have that belief torn down was shocking yet intriguing.

Sierra continued, "Dust wouldn't be discovered till shortly before the first civilizations sprouted up roughly five-thousand years ago, that's common knowledge. Before that however, was us. Most of those who know about the power of silver eyes believe it to be a gift from whatever god or gods they follow, others believe it to be an evolution in our species' DNA, but in reality, there isn't a definite answer. Regardless of how we came into being, we were the first to be able to fight the Grimm and the first to harness the world's energy to manifest semblances. Our power mixed with semblance allowed us to survive our earliest days."

"So, you're saying silver eyes emerged as a defensive adaptation?" Cyrus inquired.

"In a matter of speaking," Sierra replied.

"Then how come there aren't more of us?" Cyrus asked, "how come everyone doesn't have silver eyes?"

"There were once far more than there are now, but the gene that gives people silver eyes is recessive, so it's no guarantee that one's offspring will have them or even be a carrier for the trait," Sierra stated, "along with it being recessive, many lines have died or been bred out of existence over the millennia."

"Ok, so what lines of silver eyed warriors were there?" Bianca asked.

"They formed the ruling classes in many of the first civilizations. The city-states of the West Anima Civilization, also known as 'Civilization A' were the first nations founded by these 'Silver Kings'." Sierra sat down in front of them, "with the help of the newly discovered Dust, they forged further ahead than ever before. Rather than rely on small bands of semblance capable warriors led by a silver eyed warrior, more people were able to fight and thus we grew from tribes to civilizations… Nations that could amass armies to fight our greatest foe."

Bianca and Cyrus slid off the bench to the ground in order to be at eye level with Sierra. They could easily see this as plausible, even factual. Those who had power and the backing of the people were generally the ones who ruled throughout history.

"Many nations rose and fell between the first civilization and now. Not all were founded by silver eyed warriors and their followers, but early on, most were," Sierra said, "Some of the most famous were Sanctum, Helios…" she glanced at Cyrus, "Mantle, and the Southern Isles."

"Wait a minute," Bianca said, "we have a friend from the Southern Isles, she's a member of one of the royal families and she doesn't have silver eyes."

"Yea, and as far as we know, neither do any of her family members," Cyrus added.

"That's because the trait died out among their royal families centuries ago," Sierra stated, "I've studied the records of many nations and the Kingdoms, the last chieftain's children didn't inherit the trait and when he died, it died with him. Before however, their five Chiefdoms were founded by five silver eyed warriors."

"The Five Great Chiefs," Cyrus said, "our history professor talked about the legend, but he never said anything about them being silver eyed warriors."

"Why would he?" Sierra asked rhetorically, "As far as most people know silver is just another eye color, nothing special. But the three of us know the truth."

"I still have questions," Bianca stated, "if Helios and Sanctum were ruled by silver eyed warriors, how could Vale and Mistral have defeated them? Also, how could Mantle lose the Great War if their King and his heirs had silver eyes?"

"Simple," Sierra smiled confidently, "they forgot how to harness the power they possessed. Mantle could've conquered the world had their King and his sons knew how to use their power, instead, they all died in the Vacuo Desert. Helios would've crushed Vale's uprising if their Kings comprehended the power that they held. And Sanctum's legions would've never been broken by Yu Huangdi, the first Emperor of Mistral, had their Consuls focused on honing their abilities instead of drowning themselves in their own debauchery. Over time, the kingdoms and nations founded by us were over taken by others. The old made way for the new, as is the way of the world."

"So, was this just to give us a history lesson or something?" Cyrus asked, "if it was, it's interesting, but honestly, nothing but a waste of time."

Sierra chuckled, "no, it wasn't just for a history lesson, although that was part of it. This is about helping you two reach your highest potential."

"Highest potential?" Bianca and Cyrus asked simultaneously.

"Yes," Sierra said, "because I know one of you has accessed their powers."

Sierra and Cyrus both looked at Bianca.

She looked flustered, "what do you want me to say? That I can use my power whenever I want? Because I can't."

"That's ok, that's why I wanted to talk to the both of you," Sierra replied, "I want to help you… both of you, harness your powers."

Cyrus found it a bit suspicious that Sierra knew about Bianca accessing her power, considering she couldn't have been at the docks when it happened. With all that's happened he couldn't afford to let things like this go.

"How did you know her powers activated?" Cyrus had a serious look on his face, the same look he would get before a fight, "you weren't there when it happened."

"No," Sierra said, "but a good friend of mine was."

"Who per se, is this 'friend'?" Cyrus inquired.

Bianca got uneasy at this point as she noticed her partner's look on his face. When she looked to Sierra however, she was calm and unfazed. Bianca tried to get the attention of her partner, but to no avail.

"Your Combat Professor, Ember Haze," Sierra stated, "she and I grew up together and trained under Arslan Altan."

"And she knows you've harnessed your power?" Cyrus asked.

"Yes, she is aware," Sierra replied.

"I can't say I don't find it odd that our professor would talk about that with people other than us," Cyrus said, "but if she trusts you, I guess I can afford to."

"Thank you for your honesty," Sierra's gaze turned from Cyrus to Bianca, "however, Ember didn't tell me how you activated your powers."

Bianca looked to the ground and grasped her forearm with her hand nervously, "my… my mom sacrificed herself to save me, all I really remember was seeing her go unconscious and then… everything went white."

Cyrus put his arm around her to comfort her, so she could bawl out any tears she had onto his jacket, but there were none. He could sense her sadness, but she was keeping herself from crying.

"I'm sorry to here that," Sierra looked down for a moment as if a sad memory of her own came flooding back, "if it's any consolation, I too know what it's like to lose a loved one."

"The war?" Bianca asked.

Sierra nodded silently.

She looked to Cyrus, "have you ever accessed your powers?"

Cyrus didn't answer at first, as if a dark repressed memory was clawing its way back to him. He looked to Bianca, her eyes widened slightly.

"Once," he said, "when I killed my father."

It was silent, Bianca had heard this story once before, she still couldn't entirely comprehend it. Sierra didn't bat an eye however, she took it at face value.

"Do you remember anything of that time?" Sierra asked.

"No," Cyrus replied, "at least not from my own perspective. My brother filled in the gaps."

"You didn't mention that when you told me," Bianca said.

"Didn't think I had too, I thought I just blacked out," he said, "to be honest I thought my brother was going crazy when he told me what happened."

"Traumatic experiences can lead to the awakening of our powers, but its not the way to truly harness it," Sierra stated.

"How do we then?" Bianca asked.

Sierra smiled, "I will teach you."

She directed the two of them to sit as she had been when they arrived. After which, she set about fixing their posture. Sierra then sat in front of Bianca and Cyrus in the same fashion.

"I want you two to relax, take slow deep breaths and close your eyes," Sierra instructed.

"What's that supposed to accomplish?" Cyrus asked.

"No questions right now," Sierra replied, "relax and breathe."

They did as she asked and for a few moments all they could hear was the conglomerated noises of small animals in and around the pond.

"Are your minds clear?" Sierra asked.

"What?" Bianca and Cyrus replied in unison.

"Are your minds clear of any outside thoughts?" She asked, "you should only be focusing on yourselves right now."

"I guess," Bianca replied.

"It's as clear as it'll ever be," Cyrus stated.

"Good, now I want you to activate your auras, no semblances. Just let your aura flow through your body freely," Sierra said.

Bianca and Cyrus did as she asked, and their auras began to glow. Their color was the exact opposite to one another, white and black, a fact Sierra found intriguing.

"Do you feel it?" She asked.

"Feel what?" Cyrus replied.

"The energy around you," Sierra too activated her aura, it was a purple-gray color.

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel anything either," Bianca said.

"It's fine," Sierra replied, "now, redirect your concentration to the world around you, the sounds, the smells, the feeling of the wind upon your skin, then answer my question."

Bianca and Cyrus let their minds wander the world around them. Every little sound in the garden became distinct, the light croaking of frogs in and near the pond, the chirping of birds in the bushes and trees. Then, they felt something, a strange energy that although alien to their bodies, felt familiar.

Sierra felt it too, "there it is."

"What is it?" Bianca asked.

"What you're feeling is the aura of every living thing around you," Sierra said.

Cyrus opened his eyes, "how's that even possible?"

"All living things, with exception to the Grimm, possess aura," Sierra replied, "everything from the smallest animal, to the largest tree possesses it."

"So, a tree could use a semblance," Cyrus said sarcastically.

Sierra chuckled, "no, no, of course not. Just because all living things possess aura doesn't mean they can manifest a semblance or even activate their aura. You see aura is simply a force of nature, a 'life force' that binds us all together. As I told you earlier, the first of our kind found out how to use it. They then taught the rest of humanity and the faunus how to harness their auras, or 'qi' as it was known to the ancient peoples of this continent."

"So, there's something about aura that can help us access our powers then," Bianca stated.

"Exactly!" Sierra replied, "you see, those who can use their aura do so in a fairly crude way; Rather than simply let it flow naturally when it's active, they constrict it to themselves. If they were to let it flow freely, their aura would be significantly more powerful, and while not unlimited, it would deplete significantly slower. But us, we can link with the aura of the world around us and through that we can harness our powers."

"So, our powers are like a semblance then," Cyrus said.

"Essentially," Sierra stated, "there are a few differences, but you get the idea. However, by itself our bodies don't have enough aura to feed our powers safely and reliably."

"Safely and reliably?" Cyrus inquired.

Sierra leaned back into a more leisurely position, "you know how you become fatigued when your aura is depleted if you over use your semblance?"

"Yea," Cyrus said.

"Well, take those effects and multiply them by a hundred. Fainting after overusing your power is the least of your concerns," She paused, "if you don't let your aura flow freely while you use your powers, you could damage your body beyond repair. You may even die from the strain you'd put your bodies under."

This was a serious revelation for Bianca and Cyrus. They didn't comprehend the risks of using their newly discovered powers. Luckily for them however, their powers have each only been used once to this point.

After explaining more about their powers to them, Sierra had Bianca and Cyrus continue to meditate with her. It would take more than a single session for them to learn to fully harness their powers, but everything needs a start. She had them learn to connect with the world around them and even each other.

As they meditated, Bianca and Cyrus found the experience soothing. Even though their auras were active and slowly draining, they felt next to no fatigue as they would normally. Why more people didn't practice the use of aura this way, they didn't know. The sound of footsteps entered the area of the garden where they were meditating. Bianca and Cyrus felt Sierra quickly stand and they opened their eyes to see what was happening.

They saw Arslan standing in front of the three of them, and Sierra bowing respectfully. Bianca and Cyrus quickly jumped to their feet and stood up straight.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's getting late," Arslan said, "curfew is in half an hour."

"Of course," Sierra bowed once more, "apologies Sifu."

"There's no need to apologize my pupil," she replied, "I too have lost track of time while meditating."

"Thank you Sifu," Sierra said.

Arslan looked to Bianca and Cyrus. She looked directly into their eyes, noting their color, "I've seen you two before, the first day of the qualifiers. Tell me, what are your names?"

Sierra motioned to the two of them, "this is Bianca Rose and Cyrus Gray. They're like me Sifu."

"I can see that," Arslan walked closer to them, Bianca specifically, "Rose huh? Any relation to Ruby Rose?"

"She's my mom," Bianca replied.

Arslan nodded, "you have her eyes."

After that, Sierra said goodbye and promised to continue helping them in the future. She left with Arslan, leaving Bianca and Cyrus alone in the gardens. Soon however, they left as well. As they walked back to their dorm, they reflected on what Sierra had taught them today. It was like what Weiss had told them those few months ago in the hospital room, they certainly were special in this world.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: A Festival of Culture

The 52nd Vytal Festival, a celebration of over a century of peace and prosperity between the nations of Remnant. However, over the last twenty-five years, this peace has slowly been worn away. Everything from the White Fang's attack on Beacon twenty-four years ago to the recent Mistralese Civil War has shown that this peace is cracking. One more incident could shatter it.

It was the last day of class for Teams BLAC and AYST before the academy students were given a break to enjoy the festivities and tournament. They were on their way to their final class, when they saw a squad of Atlesian soldiers lined up at attention on the academy airship docks. They were in full dress with metals and all.

"What do you think that's about?" Cyrus asked.

"No idea…" Bianca trailed off. Her eyes went wide, and a huge smile came over her face. Before her friends knew it, she took off running.

Winter Schnee was inspecting the soldiers in line, by her side was her second-in-command Marcus Stallion. As they scrutinized the soldiers, they heard rapid footsteps approach them from behind.

"Aunt Winter!" Bianca yelled as she threw her arms around the older woman in a tight hug.

"My my, hello there Bianca," Winter said as she ruffled her niece's hair.

"Did ya miss me!?" Bianca asked, her large smile still adorning her face.

Winter smiled, "nope."

Bianca giggled at Winter's reply.

"I take it you know this girl ma'am?" Marcus said.

"She's one of my nieces," Winter replied.

"Hey auntie!" Alyssa called out as Team AYST and the remainder of Team BLAC walked up to them.

"And there's my other niece," Winter said with affection.

As the two teams walked up to Winter and Marcus, Roy split off and walked up to his father. He saluted him but was pulled into a hug by the older man. The soldiers around them looked a bit confused at the situation, but they quickly snapped back into attention as Winter shot them a stern look.

"So, what's with the formality?" Bianca inquired.

"Some VIPs are arriving for the festival," Winter said.

"Where from?" The younger girl inquired.

As Bianca asked this, a large airship descended from overhead, the thrust from its engine forcing the members of Teams BLAC and AYST to duck. Winter, Marcus and the soldiers were unfazed.

Winter looked to her nieces, "would you two and your friends please stand aside."

The two teams stepped behind the line of soldiers, by now a small crowd of curious onlookers had formed nearby. Alani and Yin noticed a symbol on the side of the airship, an orange circle surrounded by a brown kukui nut lei, inside the circle, a white hibiscus flower. The sigil of the Kamehameha Royal Family… Alani's family.

The ship landed, and two dozen soldiers marched out in a highly disciplined lock-step fashion, some had visible faunus traits. They were all heavily tattooed and dwarfed the Atlesian soldiers, the shortest was easily six-foot-three. Their armor was finely made hardened leather, their helmets were metal with feather crests and covered the entirety of their heads. They also wore lavalava skirts similar to Alani's, however the colors were flipped; white with orange hibiscus flowers. They formed up, a line on either side of the airship door, their spears held up, forming a makeshift archway.

"Make way for her highness, the Royal Princess, Haukea Kapua Kamehameha," one of the soldiers announced.

As she exited the airship, she held her head high and carried herself with an imposing presence, one that not only commanded respect, but also rivaled that of Winter.

The Royal Princess looked very much like Alani; brown hair and eyes and caramel skin. However, she was taller, slimmer, and her muscles more defined. Her hair was shorter as well, only shoulder length and shaved to stubble on the right side. Tribal tattoos adorned her lower lip and chin, forearms, and calves. She wore a fine sarong dress, much like the one Alani wore to the dance. Upon her head, she wore a crested feather helmet, known as a "Mahiole", with a matching long feather cloak draped around her shoulders, called an "'Ahu 'ula". All her clothing was primarily orange with white accents, on her dress, these accents were in the shape of hibiscus flowers.

Winter and Marcus snapped to attention and delivered salutes to Haukea, "Greetings, I am General Winter Schnee, commander of the Atlesian Army and Headmistress of Atlas Academy. To my right is my second-in-command; Major Marcus Stallion, commander of the Atlesian Specialist Corps."

Haukea returned a formal bow, she didn't need to state her name herself as she had already been introduced. She quickly glanced over at Alani and shot her a sisterly smile before redirecting her attention.

After this brief introduction, four more people exited the airship, all men, and all wore the royal colors and brown kukui nut leis. Like the soldiers and Royal Princess, they were heavily tattooed. They were very large and muscular, the shortest of them was six-foot-four, and the tallest-six-foot-nine. Not a single one looked like they weighed less than two-fifty.

"Huh, Beacon doesn't look anything like how Alani described it," one of the men said.

"This isn't Beacon aivalea, this is Haven," another replied.

"My brothers, Princes Akamu Kai, Kaimana Lani, Kalani Hoku, and Keahi Kekoa," Haukea introduced them as they walked up to her.

"Aloha," one of the Royal Princess's brothers said as all four bowed respectfully before Winter.

Yin looked a bit nervous at seeing Alani's brothers. So, she wrapped her arm around his in an effort to make him relax a bit.

The four of them were also dressed formally, with Mahioles and Ahu 'ulas that matched not only each other, but also the Royal Princess's. Under the cloaks they wore no shirts and had on lavalava skirts. Each wore it in a different way; Akamu's was knee-length and bunched in the front, Kaimana wore his nearly down to his ankles and was pressed flat, Kalani's was tied at the side and stretched just below his knees, and Keahi wore his at a slight angle down to the right and tied it on his left side.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Winter stood at attention, her hands held behind her back, "Professor Vasilias sends his apologies since he couldn't be here to greet you."

"No apology is needed, I'm sure you headmasters lead busy lives," Haukea replied.

"Very well," Winter nodded, "how many people have you brought to the festival with you?"

"Let's see," Haukea thought to herself for a few moments, "artisans, bakers, a music and dance troop, and all the assistants they need, plus my warriors and people who simply wanted to experience another region… roughly a hundred persons."

"That's a bit less than we expected from a royal procession," Winter stated.

"Will it be a problem?" Haukea asked, "I don't want to inconvenience you or anyone else for that matter."

"No, everything will be fine," Winter replied, "my men and I will escort you to your quarters for the duration of your stay here in Mistral."

"If it's alright with you, my brothers and I would like to take a look around first," Haukea stated, "the captain of my guard can show us to our quarters once you've taken him there."

"Very well your highness," Winter replied.

Haukea turned to her soldiers, still standing along the path from the airship to where the Royal Princess currently was, "Captain Keone," she called.

One of the soldiers broke formation and marched up to Haukea. His feather crest was larger and more ornate than the others, indicating his higher rank. He switched his spear to his left hand before then placing his right fist over his heart and bowing his head. His lizard tail swayed slightly as he stood there.

"Take the men and follow the General and her soldiers, make sure our people don't get lost and that all arrive at the location we will be staying safely," she commanded.

"Yes, your highness," the captain obeyed.

"Alright men form up!" Marcus commanded.

The Atlesian soldiers lined up in two columns behind the major and waited for the visitors from the Southern Isles to follow.

The captain yelled out a command in his people's language, one similar to the one Major Stallion had just given his. The warriors formed up into two columns directly behind the Atlesian soldiers. The term 'warrior' doesn't quite fit the soldiers from the Southern Isles. They may be more brutish and primitive looking than their Atlesian counter-parts, but their discipline showed they were just as well trained as them. Winter looked impressed.

After the soldiers formed up, the people that had come along with Haukea and her brothers began exiting the airship and moved to follow their Atlesian escorts.

Winter turned away from the soldiers and civilians as they headed away from the airship. She walked up to her nieces, "it was nice to see you two again, but I'm afraid we'll have to catch up another day."

"It's all good auntie," Alyssa said.

"Yea," Bianca agreed, "if you have time give us a call and we'll come see you."

"I'll be sure to do that," Winter ruffled both girls' hair, earning yet another smile from Bianca and a purr from Alyssa.

"D-did you seriously just purr?" Lucas asked his partner as Winter walked away from her nieces.

"I'm a Cat-faunus… it happens," Alyssa replied, she was slightly embarrassed.

Lucas chuckled at his partner. Her embarrassment turned to annoyance as she growled slightly at him.

Alani's siblings approached the two teams, AYST in particular. Haukea stood opposite her little sister, flanked either side by their brothers, her arms crossed and a serious look on her face. Alani placed her right fist over her heart and bowed her head respectfully. Haukea grasped her little sister and pulled her into a hug.

"It's nice to see you again little flower, and you too Yin," Haukea said as she pulled away from Alani and looked to Yin, "we've all missed you both."

"Yea, you don't call us enough!" Kaimana interjected loudly. His face was covered in tribal tattoos.

Alani's teammates and friends snickered at the 'little flower' comment, except for Yin.

Alani's face turned red from embarrassment, "come on, I told you to stop calling me that."

"You're our baby sister, no matter how much you ask, it's not gonna happen." Keahi said. His tattoo was similar to Alani's tribal sleeve, but it adorned his left arm rather than the right, like hers.

At this point, the remaining two brothers had made there way over to the rather nervous looking wolf-faunus that was Yin Okami. Akamu threw his arm around Yin, and Kalani stood over him in an intimidating fashion. Akamu's tattoos wrapped around his neck and biceps, while Kalani's adorned his right forearm and left calf.

"Hey there Okami," Akamu said, "you been treating our sister right?"

"Y-yeah, I have," Yin replied nervously.

"Come on guys," Alani walked over to Akamu and pulled his arm off her boyfriend, "you and father roughed up Yin enough already."

Akamu shrugged, "we're just looking out for our little sister."

Keahi nodded.

"So, are you two going to introduce us to your friends?" Haukea asked.

"Of course," Alani replied and motioned for her friends to come over to her, "these are our teammates, Ebony Tacari and Roy Stallion."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you your highnesses," Ebony said. Both she and Roy bowed their heads respectively.

"Stallion? Any relation to the Major?" Haukea inquired.

"He's my father," Roy replied.

"And these are our friends, Bianca Rose, Alyssa Xiao Long, and the Grey Brothers; Cyrus and Lucas," Alani continued.

Bianca curtsied while her teammates all bowed their heads respectfully.

"Ah, I see one of you is of high society," Haukea said.

Bianca got a bit flustered, "my mother taught me that a lady should curtsy when meeting someone of high status."

"She taught you well then," Haukea stated.

As the Royal Princess turned back to Alani, Alyssa leaned over to Bianca. "Do you always have to show off when we meet rich people?"

Bianca chuckled, "yep."

Alyssa rolled her eyes and laughed lightly, "whatever B."

"So, what's with the monkey suit?" Kaimana asked as he pulled at the sleeve of Alani's uniform.

"It's Beacon's uniform," she informed her brother, "I have to wear it during school hours, with the exception of my combat class."

"It looks uncomfortable to me," he replied.

"It's actually quite pleasant to wear," Alani stated.

"Whatever you say little flower," Kaimana said.

Alani rolled her eyes at her brother when he called her by her unwanted nickname, but she smiled lightly nonetheless.

"I think it looks nice on her," Haukea stated, "however, back home, something like that may not be all too comfortable."

"Yea, I don't think these would mix well with the humidity," Alani chuckled.

Ebony pulled out her scroll to check it while her leader was reconnecting with family. Her blue and green eyes went wide when she noticed the time, "guys…"

All those within earshot looked at Ebony.

"I don't mean to break up the family reunion, but we're gonna be late for class if we don't get a move on," she said.

"Crap, I completely forgot," Alani replied. She turned back to her siblings, "I'm sorry, my friends and I have to leave, we'll talk later."

"It's alright little flower," Haukea said.

As the two groups split, Alani turned back to her siblings and called out to them, "aloha!"

The five of them waved back and returned the parting phrase to their little sister.

The next day, the two teams headed into Mistral's Upper City to experience the festivities. However, Team AYST split with Team BLAC and went to meet with Alani's family for the time being.

Areas for the Vytal Festival were spread through all parts of the city, but the main section was in a large park in the Upper City. The festival was free of charge and open to anyone and everyone to attend. There were entire pathways of food vendors and game booths within the maze that was the main festival grounds. At one end was a large stage where various bands and musical groups from around Remnant played both traditional music from their homeland or currently popular songs. One thing that got Alyssa excited was that 'The Achieve Men' were headlining the day's concert. That group may be old and not as popular as they used to be, but they still drew large crowds of both older and younger fans.

Despite all this, the most popular part of the Vytal Festival was getting to see other cultures on display in all forms; clothing, painting, dances… martial arts. If it was culturally significant to a group of people and they were at the festival, then you could find it.

People came from all over Mistral, as well as the other Three Kingdoms and the many minor city and nation-states from around Remnant. From Sanctum, Mistral's north-westerly most and second largest city, came wrestlers and philosophers, a stark contrast to the musicians and poets who represented the kingdom's magnificent capital. The people of Sanctum looked more like those from Vale or Atlas than they did of their own kingdom. Vacuo doesn't have much of a unifying culture, Snake charmers, Cowboy's, and everything in between came from there. Technically, you could lump in those from the Southern Isles into this group, but they shared little to nothing with the cultures of the desert. Atlas was mainly represented by some of Remnant's finest scientists, alongside various young and eager inventors. Finally, there was Vale, represented mainly by its many artisans; cooks, painters, craftsmen, you name it.

With many nations, both major and minor coming to celebrate peace, there was a notable absence. No groups from Menagerie ever arrived for the festival. Despite the Belladonna Family's best efforts over the past decades, the people of their island didn't wish to participate in the celebration of over a century of "peace" that they had hardly got to experience. After all, many of the Faunus who live there now are the descendants of refugees of both the Great War and Faunus Rights Revolution, or are refugees themselves from the recent Mistralese Civil War.

"Well, what do you guys want to see or do first?" Bianca asked her team.

"Why don't we just take a look around and see what's here," Lucas suggested.

"Sounds good to me, although, I do want to see the Sanctumite Wrestlers at some point, maybe pick up some tips from them for unarmed combat," Cyrus said.

"But you're already great at unarmed combat," Bianca stated.

"Meh," Cyrus shrugged, "there's always room to improve."

"I don't really care what we check out, I'm just excited for The Achieve Men concert at the end of the day," Alyssa said.

"Only you would fangirl over a twenty-five-year-old boyband," Lucas said.

"Hey, what'd I say last time we talked about this?" Alyssa asked rhetorically.

"They're not old…" Lucas said with a roll of his eyes.

"They're 'classic'," Alyssa helped him finish the sentence.

Bianca and Cyrus jointly chuckled at their teammates for a moment, earning slight ire from the two of them.

"Let's get going guys," Bianca said as she began to walk into the festival grounds.

One of the first attractions Team BLAC came across was a Troupe of Vacuan performers. They occupied an open area with a main stage flanked by several other of their attractions. One of which was a young man in a turban who was juggling rather sharp knives. Another was an elderly man playing a flute which caused a cobra to rise out of the basket in front of him and sway hypnotically. In the corner of the main stage was a couple of people playing drum and chime like instruments, while in the center was a young woman moving, shaking, and twisting her hips and torso to the rhythm. She captivated many on lookers with her performance. Every shift in beat and rhythm of the music she followed flawlessly and seamlessly. Like her snake charming compatriot with his flute, the way she moved her body hypnotized many within her audience, particularly some of the men.

"That Vacuan Belly Dancing sure is something," Cyrus said as he and his teammates headed away from the Vacuan performers.

"I'll say," Alyssa replied, "you know… Luc, I think she had eyes for you."

A bit of red flushed across Lucas's face, "whatever," he said, sounding slightly annoyed.

A sly smile came across Alyssa's face, "oh wait, I forgot, the only girl you like is Tawney."

"What? We're just friends," Lucas said.

"Mhmm, sure… I sensed you two together at the dance," Alyssa said playfully.

"She was alone, and I offered to dance with her, that's all that happened," Lucas stated.

"Whatever you say Luc, whatever you say," Alyssa teased.

"You're a regular lady's man, aren't you?" Cyrus poked his brother with his elbow.

Lucas rolled his eyes and chuckled lightly at his teammates.

Team BLAC continued to make their way through the maze of tents and booths, browsing various crafts and enjoying music and dances of the many cultures in attendance. However, one in particular caught Cyrus's attention. A band from Southern Vale were playing a song that had some Latin flare to it.

When they finished the song, Cyrus approached one of the band members, "I liked that song, it had great rhythm. What's it called?"

"'Slowly'," he replied.

The band's drummer smacked his instrument, 'ba dum tss.'

More than one patrol of Atlesian soldiers passed by Team BLAC as they perused the festival grounds. Despite being on the job, they took time to enjoy the sights and sounds they were assigned to protect. After they passed by a small squad led by a rather large soldier in what looked to be powered armor, they turned a corner and ran into a somewhat familiar face. Arslan Altan. She was typing something on her scroll when she noticed the team of students.

"Hey Professor Altan," Bianca waved.

"It's 'Master' actually," she pocketed her scroll.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean too…" Bianca began to say.

"It's fine, you didn't know," Arslan smiled, "it happens every now and again."

"So, what are you doing at the festival, I would think Haven's head combat professor would be busy prepping her students for the tournament?" Alyssa inquired.

"My students have prepared enough," Arslan stated, "like you all, they've been training for months for this. Some, years even."

"Well, make sure to tell 'em to go easy on us then," Cyrus joked.

It was quiet for a moment as Arslan had a stern look on her face. A nervous look came over Cyrus's face as Arslan stared right through him. She chuckled lightly.

"Even if I did, I doubt they would." She paused, "Sierra especially, she's been looking forward to this for the last two years. Ever since Ember beat her in the finals of the last tournament."

"Professor Haze never told us she won a Vytal Tournament?" Bianca said.

"She won the previous tournament as well." Arslan stated, "she was my best student before she left for Beacon."

"Why'd she leave Mistral?" Lucas asked.

"That's… a long story," Arslan's tone dropped a bit, "we didn't exactly see eye to eye back then."

"Oh, we're sorry to hear that," Bianca said.

"There's no need to be sorry, we've since reconciled," Arslan said.

"Well, that's good to hear." Bianca stated.

"Alright, well, I have to get going," Arslan began to walk away from Team BLAC. Before she left sight however, she quickly turned around, "Alyssa, tell your mother I said hello."

"Will do," Alyssa replied with a casual two-finger salute.

Team BLAC continued to enjoy the sights and sounds of other cultures, even sampling some of their cuisine. After a while, they reached the attraction Cyrus wished to see. The Sanctumite Wrestlers. In truth wrestlers weren't the only martial artists from Sanctum, there were others as well, but Wrestling, and its more violent cousin, Pankration, is what Sanctum is known for.

Along with the main stage of wrestlers, there was a second area with people dressed like ancient soldiers. Armor of bronze and weapons of iron, four were dressed identically, while a fifth was more ornate looking; His armor was sculpted to look like a muscular chest and his helmet had a large crimson crest atop it.

An older gentleman was standing on the stage, surrounded by onlookers. He wore the typical martial arts uniform or 'gi'. He looked over the crowd, which now included Team BLAC, for a moment before he spoke.

He signaled for two people to join him, both wore similar outfits. "Modern Sanctumite Wrestling is purely a combat sport, some of it's techniques could be used in self-defense, but for the purposes of the military or huntsmen, it is not suitable."

He stepped aside and allowed the two martial artists to demonstrate some techniques. They grasped each other by the shoulders and leaned in on one another. At the command of the man, they began to struggle against one another in an attempt to take the other down. They fought for leverage. When one gained the advantage, they slammed the other to the ground and pinned their opponent.

The wrestlers separated as the man walked back to the center of the stage, "no need to worry folks, the stage has been padded and is completely safe for this demonstration. Now, as you could see, neither fighter made use of anything but grappling and pins, our art is much tamer than it used to be."

He ordered two more people to his position. Both wore heavy padding on their heads, torsos and shins, along with padded gloves on their hands. "Pankration goes back to the founding of the Republic of Sanctum, over eight-hundred years ago. It was created as a means of defense should a Legionnaire lose his weapons in battle," he motioned to the area the five men in armor were addressing a few on lookers, "if you wish to learn more about Sanctum's legions, we've brought a few reenactors with us."

The man stepped aside once more and allowed the two people beside him to take center stage. Rather than start locked up on one another, they squared up their bodies to each other. Their fight truly was more violent. Heavy jabs and uppercuts were thrown, followed by stunning heel kicks. Before long they closed to grapple. One fighter picked up the other under the his arm and leg, and slammed them to the ground, before then throwing several punches into their head. They separated at the command of the man, one got up significantly slower than the other.

"As you can see by that demonstration, Pankration is more versatile in its techniques, making use of kicking and punching, along with grappling. However, rather than pin an opponent, the martial artist continues to attack them until commanded to stop or until their opponent can no longer fight back." He looked around the crowd, some of the people looked shocked at the aggressiveness of the martial art they had just seen, but more so were fascinated. "For huntsmen, military, or law enforcement personnel wishing to learn better hand to hand skills, this maybe the martial art for you. In fact, it is taught as a mandatory course at Sanctum Academy Combat School, and many others, both in and around the City of Sanctum."

After the demonstration concluded, flyers were passed out by the wrestlers. They advertised that they would be giving free beginners lessons, during the course of the festival, for anyone who wished to learn either modern wrestling or Pankration. Cyrus was among the first to take one.

The day continued for Team BLAC when towards the end they ran into Team AYST where the representatives of the Southern Isles were setup. Together the two teams settled in to watch whatever Alani's people had to offer.

"You guys are in for a show," Alani said, and Yin nodded in agreement.

"Why? What's gonna happen?" Bianca inquired.

"Just watch," Alani smiled.

Both male and female dancers took the stage, among them were the youngest of Alani's older brothers, Kalani and Keahi. The group treated their audience to a pair of dances. First a hula dance and then another dance known as an 'ote'a. They were vastly different; the hula being slower and more fluid, with both male and female dancers performing the same moves, while the 'ote'a was very fast, with the female dance being centered on the hips and torso, and the male version on the thighs and knees.

After the dancers vacated the stage, a man and several other people came on. Most had instruments, which included ukuleles, pahu drums, and some brass instruments as well. The man proceeded to sing as the people around him played their instruments. He sang in his native tongue, while a screen above and behind the band provided a translation. The song was derived from the mythology of the islands, a story of how one of their gods fished the islands from the sea for them to live, lassoed the sun to give the people longer days, and stole fire to warm their homes.

Alani turned to her friends, "they didn't say it before hand, but that song is called 'Mihi Mai Ra'."

A few more performances took place. One of which was an amazing show of fire dancing, followed by a large man with a beautiful voice singing and playing the ukulele. After these, Alani's sister stepped on the stage.

She was followed by all four of her brothers and half a dozen of their royal guards. The warriors didn't have their helmets on though, while Alani's brothers wore nothing but their lavalavas and the shorts beneath them. Haukea was also dressed differently, wearing a simple chest wrap and lavalava as apposed to her sarong she wore the previous day; however, she did still wear her feather helmet and cloak.

"For those of you who don't know, my name is Haukea Kapua, Royal Princes of Kamehameha Island. I hope you all have enjoyed these demonstrations of our culture in the Southern Isles," Haukea said. "I know many of you don't know of us, but my people are trying our best to open up to the rest of the world after over a century of isolation. Now, what you are about to see is something very special in my culture, the Haka. It is something preformed before we go into battle and for many special occasions. I assure you this is for the latter," she smiled and gained a collective laugh from the audience. "This goes out especially to my little sister, Princess Alani Kapua, who will be competing in the Vytal Tournament," Haukea pointed her hand towards her sister, causing the younger girl to gain a blush of embarrassment. The Royal Princess looked Alani in the eyes and made a fist, "Kia Mate Toa."

Haukea turned to those standing behind her. All were at attention, even her brothers. "Ki aro. Kia whakaronga, kia mau!"

"Hī!" Everyone but Haukea widened their bases and placed their hands on their waists.

"Ringaringa e torōna kei waho hoki mai!" Haukea shouted.

Kss kss, the warriors and princes blew shots of air out of their mouths as they began to stomp their feet and smack their chests.

Haukea joined them, "Tika tonu!"

"U - e!" The warriors and princes replied.

"Tika tonu!" Haukea shouted once more.

"U - e!" Those behind her replied.

They all chanted together now, stomping their feet and slapping their chest in perfect unison and great rhythm.

"Tika tonu atu ki a koe, e tama!" They all slapped their thighs in unison, one of the warriors even jumped in the air as they did.

"Hiki nei koe aku whakaaro, pakia! He hiki aha to hiki? He hiki roa to hiki? I a ha hā!" They began to do other movements with their arms that resembled punching or flexing.

"E tama, te uaua ana! E tama, te mārō!" They moved their arms in front of their chests and faces in a circular motion.

"Roa ina hoki ra! Te tohe o te uaua na! E tāu nei!" They smacked their left forearm, pointed straight out with both hands, then punched upward with their right fist while they slapped that arms bicep with their left hand, and then smacked their chests one last time.

Āna Kss! Āna Kss! Āna Kss! Aue... Hī!" They pulled their arms across their chests three times before finishing in their original stances.

When they finished their performance, most of those on stage bore their teeth and tongue and made an aggressive threatening expression.

The audience stood their silent for a moment, unsure of what they had seen, but soon they broke out into a cheer. All those on stage stood up straight and bowed their heads in gratitude towards their audience.

Haukea stepped forward to address the audience, "Thank you all. This was the Haka of our island, there are many others, every one of the five islands has one specific to it. Even some families have their own. This one you just witnessed is known as 'Tika Tonu'."

The day was starting to come to an end and Teams BLAC and AYST made their way down to the main concert stage. Bands and musical groups had been performing there for the better part of the day, but it was soon time for the day's main event. The Achieve Men.

The crowd gathered for the show was a large one, it seemed like everyone in the festival was at the concert. As the music played people began to dance and sing along. Even Lucas found the time enjoyable though he wasn't a fan of "old" bands. However, Alyssa was the most excited member of the two teams. The day was a fun one for everyone and it would end on a high note.

As the people of the kingdoms were enjoying the first day of the Vytal Festival, Rouge was back in her base going over a recent update from her informant. Around the maiden was Rommel and his officers, Albus and his templar captains, and the Dusk Twins; Jet and Nilah.

"What news does Lioness have to report?" Rouge asked.

Rommel placed his scroll on the table everyone was sitting around. It produced a three-dimensional map of Mistral with certain streets and alleys highlighted. "Zey have provided us vith a detailed map of zee patrol routes Atlesian soldiers vill be taking for zee duration of zee festival. Zee lower city, zee academy, und everything in between."

"Good, good," Rouge said. "Rommel, Albus, have your men begin final preparations, we're going to strike when the tournament and festival have concluded."

"Why not strike now?" Albus asked.

Rouge chuckled, "I actually like the Vytal Festival, I may even keep it around after we've built the world anew. We'll let the kingdoms have their fun for now, for the hour of their demise is right around the corner."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: The Tournament, Teams

The Vytal Tournament, the main attraction for the festival from which it gets its name. Unbeknownst to the competitors and spectators, the first tournament held in Mistral since the beginning of the civil war, could very well be the kingdom's last.

Alyssa and Lucas were making sure their weapons worked properly and their gear was battle ready, meanwhile their teammates were meditating, their auras outlining their bodies. It was something Bianca and Cyrus tried to do daily, as per the suggestion of Sierra. It would allow them better use of their aura and command of their semblances, along with eventually being able to call upon their other powers at will.

"They've been doing that a lot lately," Alyssa whispered to her partner.

"Yea, I thought Yin was our only zen master," Lucas quietly joked.

Alyssa rolled her eyes and chuckled lightly, "anyway, we've gotta go soon, so…"

"Right," Lucas replied.

The gray clad boy approached his teammates. They seemed not to notice as they were deep in concentration.

He tapped Bianca on the shoulder, "hey, we have to go soon. You mind wrapping it up?"

"Huh?" Bianca opened her eyes and her glowing aura dissipated. "Oh, right. Hey Cyrus, we have to go now."

Cyrus opened his eyes too and his aura dissipated as well, "damn, time flies doesn't it," he chuckled.

"Can you guys please hurry, the transport to Amity Colosseum leaves in fifteen minutes," Alyssa said.

Bianca and Cyrus already had their combat outfits on, so they just grabbed their weapons and strapped them on as they left their dorm. Team AYST had already left, so Team BLAC was on their own for now.

Soon after Bianca affixed her belt which held her sabers to her waist, her scroll buzzed in her pocket. It was a video call and the contact name read "Auntie Yang." When she answered the call, it was more than just Yang on the other side; squeezed into frame was Blake, Alyssa's younger brother Cerin, and Ren and Nora's kids, Li and Pyrrha.

"Hey!" They all said in unison.

Lucas, Alyssa, and Cyrus all gathered around Bianca after they heard those on the other side of the call.

"Hi, what's up?" Bianca inquired.

"We're having a little get together at our place and wanted to wish you kids luck in the tournament," Yang said. When she talked, implants of gold were visible in place of the few teeth Roman had knocked out of her mouth.

"Good luck!" Nora's voice called from behind them.

"We'll be sure to give it our all," Alyssa said.

"You'd better," Cerin stated, "we'll be watching."

Pyrrha looked away from the screen for a moment as if to grab something. The little girl had a smile on her face as she held a metal spoon in her hand.

"Alyssa, Bianca, look what I can do!" Pyrrha used her semblance to levitate and spin the spoon above her hand.

"Cool," Bianca and Alyssa said simultaneously.

Alyssa turned away and whispered to Bianca, "what's she doing?"

"She's using her semblance to spin a spoon above her hand," Bianca whispered back.

Alyssa turned back to the screen, "that's really neat, you'll have to show us more when we get back to Vale."

"I will!" Pyrrha said with a large smile.

"So, um… is my mom with you guys?" Bianca asked.

"No," Blake said, "Weiss is at the hospital visiting Ruby."

"Yea, she said she was going to watch the tournament there," Yang added.

"Oh…" Bianca's tone turned somber as she was once again reminded of the state her mother was in.

"Bianca." Blake said, "don't blame yourself for what happened, if Ruby could speak, she'd tell you that."

"Not only would she tell you that," Yang cut in, "she'd tell you that she was proud of you too."

"Yea," Blake agreed, "but, you shouldn't think about that now, you have more important things to focus on."

"Like winning the tournament," Alyssa jumped into the conversation.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Lucas stated.

"Anyway, we'll be rooting for you," Yang said.

"Good luck," Blake added.

The call ended and Team BLAC resumed their course, they soon arrived at the transport to Amity Colosseum. They were met by Professor Haze, along with Teams AYST and SSGE, and the five other teams whom they would represent Beacon Academy alongside.

The tournament stage was magnificent. A massive stadium capable of holding tens of thousands of people, all the while held in the air by a massive chunk of Gravity Dust. It was the result of years of planning and coordination between the four kingdoms, to create a venue like no other to be the home of the greatest tournament on Remnant.

"Alright everyone, opening ceremonies are starting soon," Professor Haze announced. "When we land grab your gear and follow me, try not to get lost."

When they landed, the students did as Professor Haze said. The main entrances were crowded with what seemed to be hundreds of people; other academy students, civilians, and huntsmen, with thousands more on the way. Professor Haze led them to an alternate entranceway. This one was empty, save for a few of the colosseum's workers and a pair of Atlesian Knights.

The entranceway led to a long, mostly empty tunnel. When they entered, they were met by a short woman with an earpiece and a clipboard. She directed them to follow her down the hallway to a large garage like door.

"Everyone," the woman clapped her hands, gaining the attention of the students. "Please, line up shoulder to shoulder with your teammates and behind your professor. Fourth-years towards the front, first-years towards the back, third and second-years sort yourselves in the center."

They did as she said. Team SSGE was directly behind Professor Haze, while Teams AYST and BLAC made up the final two rows.

As the students waited in the hallway, they could hear the people outside filing into their seats. Many of the students were excited, just as many however, were nervous. No more Round Robin matches, once you lost, you and your team were out.

Bianca tapped the pommel of one of her sabers nervously as she took several deep breaths. She soon felt a warm hand on hers that made her cease tapping. When she looked to see who's hand it was, a light blush came to her face.

Cyrus smiled at her, "we'll do fine… You'll do fine."

Bianca smiled back. There was no need for a worded response, it would only kill the moment. He was right though, Team BLAC would do well in the tournament, she would lead them well.

The woman placed her hand on her earpiece and listened for a moment, before then nodding her head. She quickly looked to Professor Haze, while pointing at her. Ember nodded to the woman.

"Beacon's ready to go," the woman said over her earpiece.

From within the tunnel the students could hear that everything was about to begin. As the spectators were settling into their seats, one of the announcers addressed them.

"Hello everyone! And welcome to the fifty-second Vytal Festival Tournament!" The announcer received a booming cheer from the audience after he spoke.

All over Remnant people tuned in to see the spectacle. Back in Vale, the Xiao Long-Belladonna and Ren families settled in at Blake and Yang's home to watch. Jamie Black, owner of the Crow Bar had a packed house. Meanwhile, Weiss sat in a hospital room next to her comatose wife, the television tuned to the Tournament Broadcast.

Ruby's condition hadn't improved at all in the months she had been hospitalized, and life support was still a necessity to ensure her survival. The doctors weren't sure she had much longer, but Ruby's family refused to give up hope.

As the broadcast of the tournament opening began, Weiss lightly grasped Ruby's hand, "it's starting."

Back at the colosseum, the announcers were introducing themselves to the crowd. "Thank you all for joining us for this momentous occasion. My name is Scarlet David, professor of history here at Haven Academy."

"And I'm Sage Ayana," the other announcer said, "I teach Grimm Studies here at our prestigious academy."

"The two of us will be your announcers for the duration of the tournament," Scarlet added. "Now, if you all would turn your attention to the holo-screens towards the top of the stadium, we have a little presentation for you."

The lights dimmed, and the forcefield at the top of the stadium darkened to block outside light. Epic instrumental music began to play as the screens activated. A video played, one showcasing all the greatest moments from past tournaments; The first shown was Ember Haze's finals match against Sierra Nahla at the fifty-first tourney in Atlas; Drunken Fist verses Tiger Style. It also showed Ember's victory in the fiftieth tournament on the Island of Vytal, before continuing backwards through the years.

It showed Arslan's victory over Yang in the forty-first tournament in Vacuo; a hard fought and closely contested match that one. Oddly enough however, it didn't show any highlights of the fortieth tournament in Vale, the tournament everyone wished to forget.

The further back the video went, the less the quality of the film became; moving from digital, to technicolor, to black and white. The last few were only snapshots, pictures taken at famous moments and matches of those tourneys' champions. The last image was of the first champion; It was iconic and powerful. His sword held high above his head, long scarf flowing in the breeze, and his expression, one of triumph. A simple soldier turned huntsman. The image faded from black and white to a colored version. The man's eyes were a glistening silver and his scarf, a bright red. His name; Rowan Rose, the three-times great grandfather of Bianca.

The image cut to black. Slowly, the emblem of the Vytal Tournament came into view on the screen. An amalgamation of the symbols of the four kingdoms and their academies, it was meant to symbolize the peace and partnership between them.

The screens faded to black. The lights then slowly came back on and the forcefield became transparent to allow exterior light into the stadium.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, it's time to introduce our competitors!" Sage Ayana announced, "care to do the honors Scarlet?"

"Of course!" Scarlet replied, "all the way from the frozen north and overseen by their funky-fresh head combat professor Flynt Coal, it's Atlas Academy!"

The applause, although loud, was not thunderous for those representing Atlas Academy as they marched out. They moved in near perfect lock-step fashion as they took their place within the stadium. The names of Atlas's eight teams were listed on the stadium's holo-screens; FRSH, NRDC, REDD, BLEU, CMFG, EYCE, CRLN, and AZRE.

"Tell us Sage, who should we look out for from Atlas this tournament?" Scarlet asked.

"That'd definitely be the third-years of Team FRSH (Fresh), especially their leader Flynt Coal Jr., or 'Easy-F' as he's more well known by in his hometown of Mantle." Sage said.

"Ah, yes," Scarlet replied, "promising academy student by day and front man of the rising hip-hop group 'Faunus With Attitude' by night, the younger Flynt looks to follow in his parents' footsteps in more ways than one. He made waves two years ago when, as a first-year, he advanced all the way to the semi-finals before he was defeated by Haven's Sierra Nahla."

"I bet he's hoping to win it all this year," Sage said.

"I agree with you on that old friend, now onto our next group of participants." Scarlet said, "by way of the kingdom by the sea, and overseen by two-time tournament champion Ember Haze, it's Beacon Academy!"

The large doors to the tunnel opened and the representatives of Beacon Academy walked out. They received a slightly larger applause than that of Atlas.

As Bianca walked out with her team and classmates, she felt a sense of elation. She was participating in the greatest tournament on Remnant, the same stage her mothers, grandparents, and a few other family members of hers had competed on as well. For a moment, she felt like a superstar. When she looked up, Bianca saw her team's name displayed along with the rest from her academy; SSGE, BLAC, AYST, GRNN, GNMT, BRWN, PRPL, and RNBW.

"So, who should we pay attention to from Beacon?" Sage asked.

"You should already know that's definitely fourth-year student Yaara Stallion, the leader of Team SSGE." Scarlet replied. "Like Flynt, she was a semi-finalist two years ago, being defeated by the woman who now serves as her academy's overseer for the tournament."

"You know, I believe her younger brother is also representing Beacon in this tournament," Sage added.

"Hmm, that would make for an interesting dynamic if they were to face one another," Scarlet stated.

"Yes, yes it would," Sage agreed. "Anyway, who's next?"

As Scarlet was about to announce the next academy, Yaara turned to look at her younger brother who was standing a few rows behind her. When she turned, she found Roy already looking at her. They exchanged a challenging look at one another. The two may be siblings, but if they faced each other, neither would hold back.

"Ladies and gentlemen, next up are the conquerors of the desert, overseen by their academy's head combat professor Brawnz Ni, it's Shade Academy!" Scarlet announced. "Why don't you tell us who to look for from this ragtag bunch."

Ragtag was right when referring to Shade Academy. They walked out in more of a blob as opposed to orderly lines like Atlas and Beacon before them. And also like them, their teams were displayed for all to see; GRSE, OCEN, FYRE, HART, MGTA, ROJO, SAND, and BLCO.

"Shade's top competitor has to be second-year student Slicke Grease, the leader of Team GRSE (Grease)," Sage said. "Over his first two years at Shade, he's shown to be superb in the combat arena."

"Well, now let's get to our last, but certainly not least, competitors," Scarlet stated. "Here they are! Your hosts and hometown heroes! Overseen by Forty-first Vytal Tournament Champion, Martial Arts Master, and head combat professor Arslan Altan, it's Haven Academy!"

The roar in the stadium was defining. The volume was cranked even louder as fast paced rock music played when the competitors of Haven walked out. Their teams were as follows; SLVR, HRVT, JADE, CPPR, BEGE, ORNJ, SFRN, and DRGN.

"Damn, talk about homefield advantage," Cyrus stated.

"You all already know who's headlining Haven's competitors this tournament," Scarlet said. "But encase you don't, let's hear it for Team SLVR and their leader Sierra Nahla!"

The applause they received was nearly as large as that of their academy's entrance.

"Sierra does have some tough competition this tournament, but she's been identified as the outright favorite to win it all. The top student of Haven Academy, and star pupil of Arslan Altan, she was the runner-up in the previous tournament." Sage said.

"She's definitely my favorite," Scarlet added.

"Now that all our competitors have been introduced, lets move onto our main event," Sage said. "Yesterday, all the teams participating in this event were seeded into a 32-team bracket, which will be in effect for the first two rounds of the tourney, after that, all matches will be decided at random before they are fought."

"Now, kicking off the tournament is Team NRDC (Nordic) of Atlas, verses Team SLVR of Haven!" Scarlet announced.

The crowd roared as the two teams made their way to the central stage of the arena. Meanwhile, the rest of the competitors relocated to zones of the stands sectioned off specifically for them.

The students who were watching took note of the gear and weapons used by those about to fight. Team NRDC was rugged, and somewhat resembled Northman Raiders of old. Their leader, Njord Beck, used a large round shield and hefty war axe. His partner, Rudolf Falk, was similarly equipped, but used a sword instead. They were the heavy hitters, while their teammates, the Leif Sisters were their team's agile fighters; Diana used a bow along with a pair of axes, and Clara used a spear.

Team SLVR was a near opposite. All four wore martial arts gis of varying color with the forearms and calves wrapped tight; Sierra's was dark green with a black belt, Russell's was black with a gray belt, Luke's was white with a black belt, and Violet's was purple with a teal belt. They were also more focused on hand-to-hand combat than their opponents, with one exception. Russell wore heavy steel gauntlets on his forearms and hands, Violet wore heavily armored boots, Luke fought bare fisted, but Sierra… she had range. On her forearms were a pair of SMGs and over her right eye, a small heads up display.

Professor Haze raised an eyebrow when she saw Sierra's weapon, "hmm, those are new."

As the two teams stood in the center of the arena, six holographic screens popped up around them. Behind Team SLVR it stopped on the lava fields and behind Team NRDC it stopped on the ruined city.

Scarlet and Sage then began the countdown and the crowd joined in.

"3!"

Russell looked to Sierra, "what's the plan?"

"2!"

Sierra cocked a confident smile at her teammate.

"1!"

She bore her claws, "attack."

"Begin!" Scarlet announced.

The crowd roared as Team SLVR charged their opponents. Team NRDC held their ground, Njord and Rudolf locked their shields and kneeled to brace themselves.

Sierra slid to a stop and pulled up her SMGs, she let loose a hail of gunfire onto Team NRDC's shieldwall causing Njord and Rudolf to duck.

Russell slammed his shoulder into his opponent's shields and broke apart their formation. Sierra soon rushed to his side as Njord and Rudolf circled them.

Diana loosed several arrows at Sierra and Russell, but she was soon set upon by Violet. She landed a huge kick on the archer's chest; the blow was amplified by her boots hydraulic soles.

Knowing her bow was useless in close combat, Diana shouldered it and drew a pair of axes from her lower back. She rushed Violet.

Violet hopped back and forth on the balls of her feet as Diana got closer. When her opponent was within leg's reach, she threw a roundhouse kick at her.

Diana hooked Violet's leg with her axe and directed her leg away, but she used this momentum and spun around, landing a huge heel kick to Diana's chin, knocking her off balance.

She quickly shook off the blow and rushed back into the fray. Diana and Violet began trading blows with one another, however, it wasn't an even exchange. Almost every strike thrown by Diana was met with a swift parry from Violet, followed by quick successive kicks.

Diana jumped back for a moment to get her bearings. She glanced at the screen showing the aura levels of the fighters. Her aura was at fifty percent, while Violet's was barely scratched.

Violet leapt in the air with the aid of her hydraulic boots. By the time her opponent noticed her attack, it was too late. She landed a violent drop kick onto Diana's head, sending her face-first into the ground.

"Ohhh! She's definitely gonna feel that in the morning!" Scarlet said.

Elsewhere in the match, Clara chased Luke into the ruined city. As she ran into the city, she looked up to see her sister's aura drop into the red.

"And with that Diana Lief has been eliminated via aura level," Sage said.

"Dammit," Clara said.

"Focus on the fight at hand," a voice called from behind her.

Clara quickly turned to block Luke's kick with her spear. She shoved him away and spun her spear around herself several times before presenting it to her opponent.

Luke stood and flicked his nose with his thumb before raising his fists.

Clara charged Luke and thrust her spear at him.

Luke spun out of the way of her strike. When Clara swung her weapon at him again, he backflipped over it. He then shot a rope-dart from his sleeve and caught his opponent's leg, pulling her off balance.

Clara found herself off her feet and falling to her back when she was struck by a roundhouse kick and sent flying into a concrete wall.

Back in the stands, Professor Haze shook her head and chuckled, "looks like Sifu's been giving out her tricks."

Clara quickly composed herself. As she saw Luke rushing to strike her, she rotated a section of her spear causing the point to open. She then fired a bolt of lightning dust forcing Luke to dodge.

Clara took this opportunity to rush Luke. She was relentless in her attempts to strike him, thrusts came from above and below, followed by side to side slashes. None made contact.

"Ugh! Let me hit you already!" Clara shouted.

Luke smiled condescendingly. He shot his rope-dart at her face, forcing Clara to dodge. However, instead of retracting it back into his sleeve, he spun it around himself continuously, creating a defensive area around his body.

Luke's smile angered Clara. Without thinking she rushed him and thrust her spear at his chest. His rope-dart wrapped around her spear and he yanked it from her hands, kicking her in the belly as he did so.

She landed in a pile of rubble, as she stood, Luke was already upon her. He struck her in the face with his rope-dart before retracting it and going into hand-to-hand.

Clara attempted to defend herself, throwing haymakers left and right, all easily dodged. Luke's punches on the other hand were quick and precise. Their duel was over.

"Another member of Team NRDC is down," Sage announced. "It's now four verses two, Njord and Rudolf are on the ropes."

The two remaining members of Team NRDC were engaged with Sierra and Russell, the powerhouses of Team SLVR.

Sierra fired her SMGs at Njord as he rushed her. Her shots were mostly ineffective due to Njord ducking behind his shield as he charged.

He swung his axe down onto Sierra when he reached her. While Sierra easily dodged this first strike, she was forced to block a punch from her opponent's shield.

Njord began to physically push Sierra back, shoving her into the lava fields.

Sierra planted her feet and halted Njord before he could push her any further. She then planted a kick into his belly and ripped the shield out of his hands.

Njord stumbled back as he grabbed his belly, he was visibly angry now. He took his axe and extended the handle to turn it from a war-axe to a battle-axe.

Sierra grabbed a couple of crystals from a stalk of fire dust near her and inserted them into her weapons.

As the two team leaders faced each other down, Russell and Rudolf fought.

Russell had his opponent on the backfoot. Russell was strong… very strong, his punches knocked Rudolf off balance every time he tried to block them.

Rudolf swung erratically at Russell in a vain attempt to try and hit him. While he certainly wasn't the quickest of his team, Russell easily avoided his opponent's strikes.

"Why don't you stop trying to hit me, and hit me," Russell said as he blocked one of Rudolf's strikes with his heavy steel gauntlets.

Rudolf pushed Russell away with a forceful shove from his shield. He then thrust his sword at his opponent's face.

Russell grabbed the blade between his hands, stopping the thrust. He tossed the weapon aside whilst throwing his shoulder into his opponent's chest, knocking him off balance.

Rudolf recomposed himself. He banged the rim of his shield and charged.

Russell took a defensive stance; he stood sideways, his base wide and squatted, his left hand balled into a fist and tucked to his side, and his right arm extended with his palm facing out.

Rudolf reared back his sword for a heavy strike. As he did so, he was struck from behind by a furious kick from Violet, sending him skidding across the ground. His aura dipped into the red.

"And that's another member of Team NRDC down!" Scarlet announced.

"Looks like Team SLVR has this match in the bag," Sage added.

Russell turned to his partner, "I had that under control."

"You looked like you needed help big guy," Violet nudged him in the arm, earning a chuckle and eyeroll from her partner.

Sierra had been toying with Njord this whole time, engaging him from a distance and leading him on a long chase. He had become annoyed with her antics and pursued her more aggressively as the match went on.

Sierra backpedaled and fired her SMGs at her charging opponent, forcing him to dodge. She then noticed her teammates rushing to her aid.

She put her hand up at them, "I got this."

Sierra's teammates nodded and stood back as Njord approached her. He was breathing heavily, and his expression was one of anger.

Sierra deactivated her SMGs and took her stance; her claws were fully extended. She looked like a tiger ready to pounce on its prey.

"Now that's more like it," Professor Haze said.

Everyone was paying close attention to this portion of the match; however, Bianca and Cyrus were especially attentive.

Njord charged and Sierra pounced. As he swung his axe at her, she leapt over his blow and grabbed her opponent's head, forcing him to fall on his face as she landed gracefully onto her feet.

Njord pounded the ground as he got up and swung his axe backwards at Sierra. She backflipped over the swing and kicked her opponent in the head, forcing him to stumble back.

As he recovered, Sierra got inside the reach of his weapon. She threw a combo of slashes with her claws. Njord was unable to defend himself, she was so fast. This fight was over before he knew it. His aura was dropped to the red as Sierra knocked him out with a devastating leopard strike.

"And that's the match!" Scarlet announced, "Team SLVR is victorious and will be moving onto the doubles round!"

"Now, we will be going to a brief break before our next match," Sage said.

Professor Haze shook her head as Team SLVR exited the arena and medical personnel met with Team NRDC, "that match wasn't even close."

Bianca overheard her professor and chimed in, "I thought it was well fought, it's not like Team NRDC gave up."

"While that's true, take a look at the aura meter," Professor Haze replied.

Bianca did as her professor said, however she wasn't expecting what she saw. All of Team SLVR's auras had barely been scratched, in fact, Sierra hadn't lost any whatsoever.

"They're good… really good," Bianca stated.

"Good?" Professor Haze inquired, "that's an understatement if I've ever heard one. They're on a complete other level, especially Sierra. She's much better than she was two years ago, so much so that I doubt I could even beat her."

Bianca was taken aback by her professor's statement. She knew Sierra had to be good simply because she was Haven's top student, among other things, but she couldn't believe she was better than a fully certified Huntress. Bianca noticed something about how Professor Haze had said that though. She wasn't saying it wholly out of concern for those who faced her. No, she was talking like an older sister seeing their younger sibling coming into their own. She sounded proud of how far Sierra had come over a mere two years.

"And we're back!" Scarlet announced, "lets get on with our next match!"

"Yes," Sage interjected, "looks like we've got Team BLAC of Beacon verses Team SAND of Shade!"

"Well, we're up guys," Alyssa said.

"Let's do this!" Cyrus said enthusiastically.

"Good luck guys!" Alani said as Team BLAC made their way down to the combat arena.

"Focus on the fight at hand and nothing else," Professor Haze called out. "Also, if you're not sure if your opponent is down and out, 'double-tap'.

"We'll be sure to remember that," Bianca replied.

Team BLAC's fight was a close one, definitely more so than the previous match. It was no doubt very entertaining for the spectators. At multiple points their opponents had them on the ropes, but they managed to pull it back and steal a win from under Team SAND's nose. They received massive applause from the crowd for their poise and teamwork under pressure.

As her student's made their way back to their seats, Professor Haze looked over to where Haven's competitors were sitting. Arslan was looking back at her former pupil, she looked impressed and gave Professor Haze an approving nod. She smiled and nodded back to Arslan.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: The Tournament, Doubles

It took a few days to get through all of the matches for the Team Round of the Tournament. Of the thirty-two teams that started, sixteen were left. Teams BLAC, AYST, and SSGE had all won and were moving onto the Doubles Round. The further they went however, the tougher their opponents would become.

Bianca ran her finger down the buttons on a soda machine that was down the hall from her dorm. Cradled in her left arm were assorted snacks for her teammates.

"Let's see… do they have strawberry? They do!" Bianca's scroll rang as she pressed the button on the soda machine.

When she looked at her scroll, the contact name said 'mom' and displayed a picture of Weiss next to it.

"Hey mom," Bianca said as she answered her scroll.

"Hi honey," Weiss replied, "congratulations on making it to the doubles round."

"Thanks, the fight was tough," Bianca said as she pinched her scroll between her shoulder and her ear to grab her soda.

"I never doubted you," Weiss replied, "however, I counted at least two times you and your team could've ended the match."

Bianca laughed nervously, "right, we'll be more alert in our next match."

"Speaking of which," Weiss added, "have you all decided who'll be fighting in the doubles round?"

"Not entirely," Bianca started to walk back towards her dorm, "we've decided that Alyssa will definitely be one, but we haven't decided the second."

"Well, who do you think it should be?" Weiss inquired.

"To be honest, I'd say Cyrus," Bianca replied, "he is our best fighter after all, it'd only seem logical to put forward our two best."

"I see," Weiss sounded intrigued.

"Anyway, how's mom doing?" Bianca asked.

"She's…" Weiss paused, "she's alright. The doctors say that there's a chance she'll walk again with the use of prosthetics, if she wakes up that is."

"That's good," Bianca's tone seemed to drop a bit. She was expecting far better news than what she got, she was hoping for a miracle.

"If Ruby wakes up and decides to go through the operation, your uncle has offered to pay for it all," Weiss said.

"Really?" Bianca inquired, "I thought you and Uncle Whitley weren't on the best of terms?"

"Life's too short to hold grudges, especially against family," Weiss stated, "I figured that out years ago, I guess he finally has too."

After talking for a few more minutes Bianca and Weiss said their goodbyes and she headed back to her dorm more hurriedly. When she entered the room, Cyrus was lying back on his bed chewing some gum and staring at the ceiling, while Lucas and Alyssa were playing rock-paper-scissors. Lucas was losing quite handily to his partner.

"Hey! You're using your semblance, that's cheating," Lucas accused.

Alyssa shrugged, "I can't help that my semblance is always active, I literally can't turn it off."

Lucas rolled his eyes, "whatever."

Bianca giggled as she entered the room, "You should know that already Lucas, we've been a team for the better part of a year now."

"It's still annoying when she uses it to cheat," Lucas said.

"I can't help it," Alyssa chuckled.

"Anyway, let's get back to what we were discussing," Bianca started dishing out the snacks to everyone. At this point, Cyrus sat up and threw away his gum. Once Bianca was done, she cracked open her soda and took a drink.

"Who are we gonna be up against?" Alyssa asked.

"I believe we're up against Team GRSE, so we'll probably be facing that Slick guy," Cyrus said.

"Which is why my vote goes to you Cyrus," Bianca stated, "you and Alyssa are our best, and would give us the best opportunity to win our doubles match."

Alyssa, Lucas, and Cyrus looked around at each other for a moment, gaining a confused reaction from their leader.

"B, when you were gone, the three of us talked," Alyssa said.

"Yea," Cyrus joined in, "and we think you'd be the best compliment for Alyssa in the doubles round."

"Wait, why me?" Bianca asked, she seemed a bit flustered.

"Well, even though Cyrus is debatably our best fighter," Alyssa said, "you've got a bit of an x-factor yourself."

"I… I still don't see why you'd choose me for the tournament though," Bianca said. "This is a competition of skill, and all three of you are more skilled than me."

"Debatably?" Cyrus inquired.

"Yes, debatably," Alyssa replied.

"Anyway," Cyrus got back on the subject, "whenever we're in a pinch, you always pull through. You may not have the best record in our combat class, but you are a damn good fighter, plus your instincts are second to none."

"Yea, you remember our first mission back when we escorted that caravan through Mountain Glenn?" Lucas inquired.

"Yea, why?" Bianca asked.

"Without your leadership I doubt we would've been able to defeat that Deathstalker," Lucas said. "You have a knack for coming up with plans on the fly, let alone when you have time to think."

"Also, what about our initiation?" Alyssa chimed in, "Lucas's glyphs may have made the bridge that we escaped on, but it was your planning that allowed us to fight off that pack of Beowolves for as long as we did."

Her teammates' words touched Bianca's heart, "I… I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," Cyrus interjected, "just give it all you can in the tournament."

Bianca was for a moment speechless. With a million thoughts racing through her head, she couldn't possibly speak. All the possible outcomes, how far she would advance, her brain was in a stupor. She quickly took a moment to compose herself and narrow her thoughts.

Bianca looked to her cousin, "well, looks like we'll have to work on our team attack some more."

"That's the spirit B!" Alyssa replied.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, why don't we get some rest," Lucas said.

"I second that," Alyssa said.

As Team BLAC got some much-needed rest for the upcoming Doubles Round, their professor was out walking with her old friend Sierra. However, unbeknownst to them, they were being tailed.

Jet watched them from the rooftops of Haven Academy as they walked. He pulled out his scroll when he knew he was out of earshot, "the targets are insight my lady. Shall I eliminate them?"

"That won't be necessary," Rouge replied, "Lioness has already assured me of the silver-eyed girl's loyalty, all I wish you to do is assess whether or not her compatriot is worthy of saving."

"Yes, my lady," Jet said apathetically. He then put away his scroll and continued to tail them.

"So, you mind telling me where you got those SMGs?" Ember asked.

"I made them myself," Sierra replied, "after the last tournament I figured that some ranged capabilities would do me good."

"They aren't heavy?" Ember inquired.

"They were at first, but I got acclimated quickly," Sierra said.

Ember stopped for a moment and took a drink from her calabash. She offered some to Sierra, but she refused.

"I can't really see myself augmenting my fighting style much," Ember said, "Sifu taught us to fight bare fisted after all."

"Really?" Sierra inquired, "I'd think a huntress would use whatever's at her disposal to fight."

"That's true," Ember chuckled, "I guess I'm just stuck in my ways."

Sierra laughed as well, "you're right about that."

Ember took yet another swig from her calabash.

"You should try and not drink as much," Sierra said, "I know you fight better when you're drunk, but that doesn't mean you should be drinking all the time."

"I've been trying," Ember stated, "but it's a hard habit to kick."

"Even so, you should keep trying." Sierra paused, "especially if you and Jaime want to have some rugrats running around in the future."

Ember snickered, "that's a long way off, we aren't even married yet."

"But it's not out of the question," Sierra stated.

Ember rolled her eyes and smiled, "no, it's not."

"You know, if you have kids, I'm going to spoil them," Sierra laughed.

"Of course you would," Ember rolled her eyes. "By the way, what were you thinking of doing after you graduate?"

"Be a huntress of course," Sierra replied, she looked confused.

"Sorry, I mean other than that of course," Ember said.

"Oh," Sierra thought to herself for a moment, "probably open my own dojo here in Mistral, why?"

Ember nodded, "ok, ok. Well, if you ever want to do something more than that and make a real difference in the world, give me a call."

"Make a real difference? Em, what are you on about?" Sierra asked.

A rooftile smashed against the ground, startling both women and putting them on alert. When they looked in the direction of the disturbance, all they saw was some black shadowy mist dissipating from a rooftop.

"Someone was watching us," Ember said.

"Who?" Sierra inquired.

"I don't know, but we should leave." Ember replied.

"Agreed," Sierra stated.

The two women left the scene and headed back to their respective dormitories.

Around midday the following day spectators and competitors flooded into Amity Colosseum for the second round of the Vytal Tournament, among them were Teams BLAC and AYST.

"So, who'd you guys choose to fight in the Doubles Round?" Cyrus asked.

"It's gonna be Roy and I," Alani replied, "who'd you guys choose?"

"Alyssa and Bianca," Cyrus said.

"Really?" Alani looked to Bianca, "no offense, but I thought you would've chosen Cyrus to go with Alyssa."

Bianca shook her head, "none taken. That's actually what I wanted to do, but these three said otherwise."

"It's not like it'll matter who you choose, no one from Beacon is winning this tournament," a voice called from behind them. Both Teams turned to see Huo Bing and his team, HRVT (Harvest) standing behind them. All four boys had smug looks on their faces.

"What the hell do you want?" Alani sneered.

"I've just come to remind you that none of you first-years or anyone else from your damned faunus-loving academy are gonna win this tournament," he laughed smugly. "I'm surprised you even made it past the first round. And now I hear the savage and a faunus are among your doubles competitors."

Alani stepped up to Huo, "call me a 'savage' one more time. I dare you."

Huo was unintimidated, "I'll do you one better. You're a savage, your family are savages, and all your people are savages. The kingdoms should've wiped out your petty faunus-loving chiefdoms and people centuries ago."

Alani balled her fists, the rage inside her was building. However, before she could act on her anger, Yin grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away.

"Save your energy for the match," the wolf-faunus said.

"That's right run to your dog." Huo laughed, "I bet you let him dominate you, don't you?"

Alani stopped in her tracks, and Yin couldn't force her to move any further. She turned back to Huo, "I hope we meet in the next round, so I can teach you some respect."

The smug smile remained on Huo's face, "if you make it that far."

Huo and his team walked off, laughing amongst themselves and making obscene gestures at Teams BLAC and AYST. Huo threw his shoulder into Alani as he passed her. She was trembling with rage.

Yin threw his arm around her, "do not let them get to you. You need to stay focused on the match."

"I know," Alani replied. She continued to glair at Huo as he and his team walked away.

As the spectators and competitors filed into Amity Colosseum, a recap of the previous round was played on the stadium's holographic screens. Energetic and exciting music was playing as the highlights of the team round played, some people were even dancing to the music at their seats. Once most of the spectators were at their seats and all the remaining competitors entered the arena, Professors Sage Ayana and Scarlet David addressed the crowd.

"Welcome back to Amity Colosseum for the Vytal Tournament Doubles Round!" Scarlet announced.

The crowd roared and cheered in anticipation.

"With only half of the teams remaining, this round looks like it will be even more competitive than the last," Sage said.

"Yes, yes it does," Scarlet agreed, "especially since all of the academies' top competitors still stand and will not face each other either. I have a feeling we won't see them start dropping off till the singles round."

"You know what they say though, old friend," Sage stated.

"What's that?" Scarlet inquired.

"Anything can happen in any given match," Sage replied.

"That is very true," Scarlet agreed, "perhaps we we'll see an upset or two in this round."

"Well, that's enough from us, lets get right to the action!" Sage said.

And right to the action they went. The first match was Yaara and Electra of Team SSGE facing off against a pair of second-year students from Shade. Like their match in the previous round, it wasn't even close. They fought with a quick and decisive ferocity, and machine-like teamwork that only fourth-year academy students could master. Sierra and Russell of Team SLVR followed up Beacon's top competitors. Unlike them however, they seemed to toy with their opponents at first. They knew they were the better combatants, but they wanted to make the fight look somewhat close. It really wasn't. After Sierra easily bested her opponent, she and Russell converged on the other. The match ended seconds later. Whenever Yaara and Sierra met in the singles round, it would no doubt be a phenomenal match, possibly the best of the tournament.

The matches continued with Huo, and another member of Team HVST, defeating one of Atlas's duos. A few more matches past and then came Team AYST's turn.

"This has been a great round so far!" Scarlet announced, "next up we've got Alani Kamehameha and Roy Stallion of Beacon, verses, Ras Mataz and Dandy Lyon of Atlas!

Alani looked to Roy as they walked to the combat stage, "you're from Atlas, what are we looking at? Strict and disciplined militaristic fighters?"

Roy shrugged, "possibly, but if Team FRSH is any indication, we can't make assumptions."

Their opponents walked to the stage and stood across from them. Both of their opponents were men. One was dressed in a yellow and white musketeer garb, he also had long brown curled hair and a pencil mustache. The other wore futuristic silver armor with pinkish-red LEDs and matching clothes underneath. Weapon-wise, the musketeer looking boy was armed with what looked like a standard rapier, while the armored boy had a pair of heavy hydraulic gauntlets.

The musketeer removed his d'artagnan hat and bowed, "allô, I'm Dandy Lyon, it will be my pleasure to beat you today."

Alani and Roy looked at one another perplexed for a moment. Then they focused their attention back onto their opponents. The other boy didn't speak, he just stared down Roy as the environment was randomized around them. To the right, an icy tundra, left, a sweltering desert. Behind Team AYST, a shallow ocean, and behind Team REDD, a lava field.

"CHEE-HOO! Show those Atlesians your fury, little flower!" Alani's brother, Kaimana, shouted from the stands.

Alani rolled her eyes at her brother's use of her nickname. But even so, she looked towards him and raised her spear in acknowledgement.

All her brothers and her sister were in attendance, as they had been in the previous round. Alani was fighting for more than just her academy in the tournament, she was fighting for her family's pride, and that of her island as well.

The announcers began the final countdown, and the crowd joined in, "3… 2… 1… Begin!"

Alani and Roy rushed their opponents. Ras counter-charged Roy and immediately engaged him.

Dandy whipped his rapier around in the air, "en garde!"

Alani thrust her spear at Dandy, but he parried it away and countered with a quick thrust. There weren't any waisted motions in his fighting style.

Alani stepped back and blocked his attack. She spun her spear around herself and swung it down on her opponent's head.

He quickly parried and sidestepped her attack, "fancy. Dandy likes fancy, even if it is a bit impractical."

Alani attacked Dandy again and again, but he continued to parry and counter her attacks. He was fast, and his movements precise. He landed the first attack of their bout, three quick wrist cuts to her belly.

Alani stumbled back as Dandy flicked his saber off to the side. She looked down to her stomach and saw a capital letter 'D' was cut into her orange tank-top.

"This was my favorite shirt!" She exclaimed.

Her opponent grinned, "Dandy thinks it looks better this way."

Alani growled and charged Dandy once more. Meanwhile, Roy was locked in combat with his opponent, Ras Mataz, in the arena's snow biome.

Ras dodged-rolled under a volley of Roy's ice-bullets. He then used his hydraulic gauntlets to shoot himself into the air and land behind his opponent.

Roy spun around to attack Ras, but the armored boy landed a solid hit into Roy's kidney and sent him flying back into a mound of ice and snow.

He quickly jumped to his feet, only to see Ras descending upon him furiously. Roy held his hands to his side and spun up a ball of wind dust between them, before then firing the gust at Ras and forcing him back.

As Ras skidded to a stop on the icy ground, Roy charged him. He snapped his fingers, igniting the fire dust in his gloves, and threw a pair of fire balls at Ras.

Ras deflected both fireballs with hydraulic punches. But then Roy drew his saber and leapt at him.

Roy's first strike hit home, but Ras quickly blocked the second. He then threw a heavy hydraulic punch into Roy's gut, knocking his wind out and sending him sliding along the ice.

"Looks like Ras has Roy on the ropes," Scarlet announced.

"Don't get ahead of yourself old friend, the fight isn't over yet," Sage stated.

Roy caught his breath. He looked to his saber for a moment and then sheathed it. He then pressed his hands together in a praying motion and activated the ice dust in his gloves, covering his hands in armor of ice.

Roy and Ras charged one another. Their fight became less about skill and proper technique and more like a knock down drag out battle. They traded blow after blow like two heavyweight boxers.

Their bodies snapped and recoiled as they struck and countered one another. If it weren't for their auras they would have killed each other by now with how brutal their strikes were.

From the stands, Team BLAC and the remainder of Team AYST cheered on their friends. Alyssa however, looked particularly impressed with Roy. His toughness and grit in this fight was showing he was more than a pampered Atlesian Army-brat.

Roy landed an uppercut on Ras that stumbled him. As Ras was reeling from the attack, Roy launched the ice off his fists and struck his opponent. Both their auras were getting low.

He descended upon Ras with everything he had. Roy attacked with Fire, Lightning, then Wind, and finally, more Ice.

Ras dipped, ducked, dived, and dodged around Roy's attacks as best he could, and threw some attacks of his own to take the heat off himself.

They were breathing heavily. Their auras wouldn't last another hit, the next exchange would decide it.

Roy snapped his fingers, engulfing his gloves in flame and Ras primed his hydraulic gauntlets. The two leapt at one another, their fists pulled back and ready to strike.

Flame and flesh collided with metal, and the resulting explosion sent both men flying away from one another. Their auras completely depleted.

"Whoa! We've got a double knock-out folks!" Scarlet exclaimed, "what a bout between those two."

"I'll say!" Sage agreed, "now, lets see how their teammates handle this."

Alani and Dandy looked at the screen depicting their auras. Both their teammates were eliminated, while the two of them still had roughly half their auras left.

Dandy flicked his saber, "looks like its just you and me, mon'amie."

Alani looked back to her opponent before quickly cracking her neck and loosening up, "let's settle this quickly."

Dandy grinned, "if you insist." He hit a button on the hilt of his rapier and it split into two identical weapons.

She spun her spear around and held it behind herself as she charged Dandy. As she got close, he thrust one of his rapiers at her. Alani quickly parried the blow, then she planted the tip of her spear into the ground and jumped. She kicked dandy in the chest with her bare feet and sent him flying into a sand dune.

He quickly jumped back to his feet as Alani closed the distance. He went on the offensive, throwing combos of thrusts and slashes at her, pushing the fight back onto center stage.

The crowd roared as the two combatants traded blows. For a few intense moments they attacked and parried one another, until Dandy landed a powerful slash on Alani, sending her tumbling into the ocean biome.

Alani was drenched as she stood from the shallow waters. Dandy stood on the edge of center stage and took a stance, one that was familiar to Alani. His left sword was held in line with his left eye, while the other was held straight out. Bianca used this same technique, and Alani knew exactly how to beat it.

With a motion of her hand, Alani beckoned Dandy to attack her. He grinned and kindly obliged.

He leapt onto a nearby small island and rushed towards Alani. She stepped onto the beech of the same island but held her ground.

They continued trading strikes and parries, but Alani soon got Dandy in a bind, literally. With their weapons now interlocked, Alani spun her spear, wrenching the rapiers out of her opponent's hands. However, she too was disarmed.

Dandy threw a haymaker and Alani ducked under it. She threw a one-two combo into his ribs, forcing him to stumble back.

As Dandy regained his balance, Alani's aura began to glow. It became like fire surrounding her body and she screamed her people's battle cry, "kia mate toa!"

Dandy was visibly shaking but held his ground as Alani charged him. He threw another haymaker, but Alani blocked it with her forearm and landed a solid counter punch into his face.

He fell back into the water and tried to scramble to his feet. Alani was upon him as he stood. He attempted to throw another punch, but she ducked under it, grabbed him by the waist, and suplexed him into the shallow water. His aura dipped into the red.

"That's it! Alani and Roy win!" Scarlet announced.

"That may have been the best match of the tourney thus far," Sage said.

Alani's semblance died down and she looked up to the large holo-screen, it showed that she and Roy had won. "CHEE-HOO!" She bellowed.

From the stands, all of Alani's brothers bellowed at once and high-fived one another, "CHEE-HOO!" However, Haukea remained quiet. She simply smiled and nodded in approval of her little sister's victory.

Dandy pulled himself onto one of the small islands and gasped for air. Alani stood over him, but not to boast. She extended her hand and helped her former opponent to his feet.

"That was a good fight," she said.

"Oui, it was," Dandy replied, "good luck to you in the next round, mon'amie."

"Thanks," Alani said. "By the way, you owe me a new shirt."

As the former combatants made their way back to their seats, Roy and Ras passed one another. Roy gave his opponent a respectful salute, however Ras winked flirtatiously at him. He was caught off-guard by this, but he just smiled and let out a light chuckle.

A few more matches passed before this round's final. One of those matches was Flynt Coal Jr. and one of his teammates against a pair of fourth-year students from Haven. The match was a close one, Flynt Jr. and his teammate could've lost at any moment. But at the very end, they managed to pull out a win and advance to the next round.

"Welp, looks like we're up," Alyssa said as she stood from her seat.

Bianca stood from her seat to follow, but Cyrus lightly grasped her wrist and she stopped to face him. A light blush snuck its way onto her cheeks as she looked to her partner.

"You got this," he smiled.

Bianca smiled confidently and nodded. Her partner then let her wrist go, and she followed her cousin to the combat arena.

"Alright folks, we've got one match left in the doubles round," Sage announced.

"That's right!" Scarlet added, "it's Bianca Rose and Alyssa Xiao Long of Beacon, verses, Slick Grease and Alban Sandford of Shade!"

The crowd roared in anticipation of the final doubles match. Back in Vale, Weiss waited eagerly for the match to start. She was sitting in her comatose wife's hospital room, holding her hand as she watched. Weiss had some fond memories of the two Vytal Tournaments she and her team participated in, although, she'd rather forget how the first of those ended. Even if Ruby couldn't watch it, Weiss wanted to be by her side to see their daughter compete.

Sage turned to Scarlet, "who do you think will win this match?"

"If I was a betting man, I'd put my money on Team GRSE," Scarlet replied, "even though we've heard promising things about Team BLAC, they are going against the top competitors from Shade Academy."

"Well, we've seen all of this tourney's top competitors make it past this round thus far," Sage added, "I believe Team GRSE should have this one in the bag."

The representatives of Teams BLAC and GRSE stood across from one another on center stage. Slick and Alban didn't look like they were from the desert regions of Vacuo. Slick wore a black leather jacket over the top of a white t-shirt, with faded blue-jeans, and black boots. His black hair was arranged into a pompadour, and he had blue eyes. His teammate, Alban, wore an orange and white varsity jacket, with a white letter 'S' stitched on the left breast, over the top of a white polo shirt, khaki pants, and brown dress shoes. He had brown eyes, and his blonde hair was crew cut. A duffle bag hung at the bottom of his back, with the strap wrapping diagonally around his chest, and he rested a metal baseball bat on his right shoulder.

Slick pulled what looked like a switchblade from inside his jacket, but when he flicked it out, it was merely a comb. "Ladies," he winked as he combed his hair.

Bianca and Alyssa rolled their eyes and brushed him off.

Around them, the arena's terrain randomized. To the right was a stormy mountain, to the left was a humid swamp, behind Team BLAC was a dark forest, and behind Team GRSE was a lava field.

Both sides readied their weapons. Slick reached into his jacket and pulled out a sword-sized switchblade and flicked it open, it was easily the length of Cyrus's longsword. Meanwhile, Alban slipped his hand into his duffle bag and kept it there.

Then came the countdown by the announcers and crowd, "3… 2… 1… Begin!"

Alban whipped out a baseball shaped grenade and smacked it with his bat, sending it flying at Bianca and Alyssa. The two of them jumped out of the way as it exploded.

Alban ripped another explosive at Alyssa. She fired a round from her shot gauntlets and the grenade exploded between them.

"Come on, can't you do better than that?" Alyssa asked.

Alban snickered, "you asked for this." Several long spikes protruded from the top of Alban's bat.

Alyssa smirked cockily, "bring it."

Alban and Alyssa charged one another. When the distance between them was erased, Alban swung for the fences with his bat at Alyssa's head.

Alyssa stepped into the swing and blocked it with her armored forearm and threw a quick counter punch, catching Alban off guard.

Alban was launched back by the force of Alyssa's strike. When she took a step towards her opponent, she heard a rapid beeping at her feet. Before she knew what hit her, one of Alban's grenades exploded below her and sent her flying back, into the swamp.

As their teammates fought, Slick and Bianca were going at it in the forest. Bianca used the trees as platforms to launch herself at her opponent.

Slick easily parried Bianca's quick slashes as she passed him. Then, as she launched herself on yet another attack, he dodged and landed a big hit on her abdomen, sending her tumbling to the ground.

"You're fast, but not fast enough," he said.

Bianca picked herself off the ground and launched herself at Slick once more. As she neared him, she quickly contorted her body and managed to strike him with a powerful flurry of slashes from her sabers.

The force of the blow knocked Slick into a tree and dropped his aura slightly. He shook off the hit and attacked.

They traded parries and blows for what seemed like an eternity. Bianca freely switched between styles, timed precise slashes were mixed with interweaving cuts. She couldn't get a clean hit on her opponent though, not without over-relying on her semblance at least.

Slick was proving why he was Shade's top competitor in the tournament, even though he was a second-year student. If he were a fourth-year, Bianca didn't know if she would have a chance, even now she didn't know if she could beat him.

Bianca's focus slipped for but a second, and with it, she made a wrong step and put herself off-balance. Slick smirked as he struck her and sent her sliding across the grassy ground of the forest.

"See," he held his arms out to the side mockingly, "I told you, you weren't fast enough."

Bianca stood and combined her sabers together and formed her scythe, "I don't need speed to beat you."

Slick smirked, "tell me more, tell me more."

"Looks like this match is getting heated!" Scarlet announced, "I love it!"

Alyssa and Alban were still going at it on the other side of the arena; capoeira verses street fighting. The swampy waters splashed and sloshed around them, drenching both as they traded blocks and counters.

Alban swung at Alyssa's head, but she dodged it and spun down to her hands. She then threw an inverted kick, accelerated by her shot-boots, into his head, stumbling him.

Alban quickly composed himself as Alyssa somersaulted back to a standing position. He reached into his duffle bag and pulled out a grenade, he then tossed it in the air and smacked it towards his opponent.

Alyssa quickly fired a shot from her gauntlets and blew up the grenade, but a second pierced the cloud of ash left by the first. Again, she blew it up with a shot from her gauntlets, but then came a third. This one struck Alyssa in the belly and sent her flying backwards.

She landed on her back, the impact of both the grenade and the ground lowered her aura more than she'd like, but she was still in it. She then sensed Alban descending upon her, his bat was spiked and ready to strike.

She blocked the blow by crossing her arms and then hit Alban in the stomach with a shot-amplified kick. He flew off of her and back onto center stage.

Alban ran for the mountain as Alyssa leapt to her feet. He took up position half way up and pulled more of his grenades from his duffle bag.

Alyssa ran towards him as he hailed grenades down upon her. Every time one would get close, she sensed it and used her shot-boots to quickly dodge the explosives. As she got close however, she saw her cousin get thrown from the forest and land on centerstage.

Slick descended upon her with intent to end this match once and for all. Bianca stood and parried his first blow with her scythe, but his second attack hit home and sent her sliding across the combat stage.

Alyssa quickly slid to a stop and turned away from Alban as he hit another grenade towards her. She pulled her fist back and fired a shot at Slick that sent him flying away from Bianca. But with this act, Alban's grenade exploded before she could dodge.

"And with that, Alyssa Xiao Long's aura has been completely depleted!" Sage announced.

"It's two on one now," Scarlet added, "looks like Team GRSE has this one in the bag."

Bianca stood as Alban leapt down from the mountain and regrouped with Slick.

"We got this," Alban held his fist to Slick.

"Yeah, onto the singles bracket," Slick pounded his teammate's fist.

Back in the stands, Cyrus leaned forward in his seat. "Come on Bianca, you can do this," he whispered to himself. Just about everyone had chalked up this match as a win for Team GRSE now, but Cyrus, his brother, Team AYST, and Weiss still had faith.

Back in Vale, Weiss watched with anticipation, "you can do this, remember your training. You've beaten people way better than these guys."

She looked to her scythe for a moment and then pulled it apart, transforming it back into her sabers. As her opponents began to prematurely celebrate, Bianca took a few deep breaths and her aura began to glow its bright white color. She felt the aura of her opponents, her beaten partner, and all those in the stadium, but only two others could feel this happening; From Haven's stands, Sierra chuckled. And in Beacon's, Cyrus cracked a smile.

Alban smacked a grenade towards Bianca. She didn't dodge. She sliced the explosive in two and the halves exploded behind her. Slick and Alban took a step back as she walked towards them.

Alban activated the spikes in his bat once more and rushed Bianca.

"Wait!" Slick shouted, but it fell on deaf ears.

When he took a swing at her, she activated her semblance and rushed behind him. Like a tornado she spun, striking Alban more times than he could count and plummeting his aura.

Bianca looked to Slick and with the full force of her semblance, charged him. He confidently took his stance, after all, he'd defended against her blinding speed not but a few minutes ago.

Slick had timed when he'd need to swing in order to hit her. However, as he swung, Bianca redirected herself with blinding quickness. Now at Slicks unguarded side, she let loose, throwing weaving slash after weaving slash and pinpoint thrust after pinpoint thrust. He tried his best to defend, but there was little he could do, and his aura dropped like a rock.

"What a finish! We've got our first upset of the tournament folks! Bianca Rose and Alyssa Xiao Long have defeated Slick Grease and Alban Sandford!" Scarlet announced.

"Yes!" Weiss jumped to her feet excitedly. She then composed herself and sat back in her seat whilst smiling.

Bianca stood there for a moment, huffing and puffing before the roar of the crowd pulled her back. She raised her saber in victory as Alyssa limped up beside her whilst holding her side.

"Great job B," she patted her cousin on the shoulder.

As his friends and brother cheered for Bianca, Cyrus smiled lightly towards her. To him, she'd never looked more beautiful than in this moment.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen; The Tournament, Finalists

Winter, Ember, and Marcus were gathered together with Neptune in his office, while Oscar and Nebula were attending this meeting via video call. Winter was pacing back and forth incessantly whilst Marcus stood at attention and Ember leaned against one of Neptune's bookshelves.

"Winter, you need to chill," Ember said, "we haven't heard anything from the maiden since her little display in the lower district."

"That's the point!" Winter snapped, "she's gone too quiet for my liking. And on top of that, a squad of my men have gone missing."

"You did set up your base in the middle of the forest, anything could've happened to them," Ember replied.

Winter scoffed and shook her head, "you don't know the gravity of the situation we're in, you didn't even know about the Maidens until two years ago. No disrespect, but I don't know what Professor Pine saw in you."

"General Schnee, that's enough," Oscar said through his video screen.

She huffed and ceased her pacing, taking her place next to her second-in-command.

Neptune entered the conversation, "I understand your concern General, but it may not be what you think. Your men could've fallen victim to Grimm or the remnants of one of the rebel factions from the civil war."

"We should still take all possibilities into consideration," Winter stated.

"As much as I don't want to jump the gun, I'm inclined to agree with General Schnee," Oscar said.

"As do I," Nebula added.

"So then, what's our next move?" Neptune asked.

"We should keep our current plan of action," Ember stated, "the festival and tournament only have three more days left. All the performers and students will be out of the city within the week."

"We can't just do nothing," Marcus said, "we should concentrate our forces within the city, just to be safe.

"That would get people talking, and possibly create a panic," Ember replied, "and we all know what comes knocking when people panic."

"Ember's right, we don't want a repeat of the fortieth festival," Oscar interjected, "but, Major Stallion is also right, we can't sit idly by and do nothing."

"Well, what do you suggest?" Ember inquired.

Oscar rubbed his chin as he thought, "Major, how many more specialists do you have available?"

"Fifty," Marcus replied.

"I see," Oscar nodded, "very well, deploy the rest of your specialists to the city and have them on alert, but lay low. As for the remaining Atlesian soldiers, place them on high alert for the remainder of the festival."

"Yes sir," Winter and Marcus saluted in unison.

"So, I take it that's meeting adjourned?" Nebula asked.

"Why?" Neptune inquired, "got some where you need to be?"

"I've got a lot on my plate right now," Nebula sighed, "on top of everything I normally do, I've been asked to mediate a dispute between a couple tribes of nomads and go over some plans to expand the city."

"Go on ahead Nebula, and best of luck to you," Oscar stated.

"Thanks, till next time," the screen displaying Nebula's face deactivated and disappeared.

"Yeesh, being Headmistress of Shade is a rough job," Neptune said.

"She is her kingdom's de facto head of state," Ember added.

"That's Vacuo for you," Marcus stated.

"Alright, everyone, we'll reconvene if something comes up, you're all free to go," Oscar said.

Winter and Marcus saluted Oscar and turned to leave the room. They were followed by Ember, who gave a casual wave to Oscar and Neptune as she left.

"Neptune, before I go, I wanted to ask you something," Oscar said.

"What's up?" Neptune inquired.

"Why haven't you chosen some people to aid you at Haven?" Oscar asked. "I mean, Winter has Marcus and Nebula has her old teammates."

"I haven't really thought about it to be honest," Neptune replied. "I've never really had the need to."

"Why not bring your old teammates, Sage and Scarlet, into the fold?" Oscar asked.

"Hmm," Neptune thought, "I guess I could, I do trust them with my life. Although, Master Altan might be another good choice as well."

"I couldn't agree more," Oscar said. "Arslan is a superb huntress, besides, one of her former pupils is already with us."

As Oscar and Neptune continued to talk, Ember caught up to Marcus and Winter outside his office. The two soldiers stopped and turned to her as they heard her hurried footsteps approaching from behind.

"Hey, Winter, can I talk to you for a sec?" Ember asked.

"It's General Schnee… And you may speak," she replied.

Ember looked past Winter, at Marcus for a moment, before redirecting her attention. "In private," she said.

Winter turned to her subordinate, "Major, contact Commander Soleil and inform her of our new orders, I shall reconvene with you at a later time."

Without saying a word, Marcus saluted the General, about-faced, and marched away.

Ember waited till he was out of earshot before she spoke, "I don't know what your problem with me is, but you should drop it. We're on the same side here."

"I don't have a problem with you," Winter replied. "I have a problem with Oscar choosing you to join his inner circle."

"Am I not good enough or something?" Ember inquired. "I've been a huntress for two years, taught at an academy for two years, and on top of that, I was the first academy student to win two Vytal Tournaments. So tell me, how am I any less skilled than anyone else in Oscar's circle?"

"This isn't about skill," Winter stated. "I don't doubt that about you. Master Altan taught you well, and Beacon trained you even more so. Your two victories in the Vytal Tournament are indeed commendable. What this is about, is maturity and experience. Most everyone in Oscar's inner circle has at least ten-plus years' experience as huntsmen. Others, including myself, have nearly or over twenty years under our belts, while you have merely two. On top of that, you have shown yourself to be immature, with your heavy drinking habit and your overly relaxed personality."

Ember didn't reply, she knew Winter was right about her, even if she didn't want to admit it.

"If that's all, I must be going." Winter about-faced and marched away from Ember.

Elsewhere, Rouge's base was rife with activity. Final preparations for the attack on Mistral were being taken; going over mission assignments, battle plans, and distributing Valean Defense Force uniforms to the men. For their plan to work, Rouge and her army needed to remain anonymous for the time being.

As she made her rounds, Rouge ran into Field Marshall Berg as he was talking to a squad of soldiers. None of them were wearing uniforms of Vale, but rather that of the Atlesian Army. She waited for her associate to finish addressing his men before she approached.

"Something you wish to tell me?" Rouge asked.

"Ah, hello mein lady," Rommel turned and gave a cordial bow to the maiden. "I vas just making a slight alteration to our plans."

"Oh, and what would that be?" She inquired.

"Vell, some of zee men ambushed an Atlesian patrol earlier today, and rather zan leave zeir equipment to rot, I zought of a vay to use it." He paused as he pulled out his scroll and opened a holomap of the Atlesian base. "I tasked zose men vith infiltrating our enemy's base und sabotaging it. Specifically, zeir airships, armory, und paladins."

"Hmm," Rouge thought for a moment, "have you decided when they are going to carry out their orders?"

"Yes," Rommel nodded, "zey vill strike just as Albus und his templars launch zeir attack on the Atlesian base. After zat, zey vill join zee assault, striking from zee inside."

"I like it," Rouge said. "By the way, have you seen Albus? I must discuss something with him."

"I believe he is near zee training grounds, vith his men," Rommel replied.

"Alright, thank you. I won't take up anymore of your time," Rouge said.

Rommel bowed respectfully to Rouge before the two then parted ways.

Rouge made her way to where Rommel said Albus was, and sure enough he was there. He was overseeing some of his templars training; some men were sparring with arming sword and kite shield, while others were doing target practice with their blaster-rifles.

"Albus," Rouge said as she approached the silver-mask wearing priest.

He quickly turned and bowed, "your grace."

"I need to discuss with you our plan of attack regarding the Atlesian base," she replied.

"What is it you wish of me?" He asked.

"Under normal circumstances I would never order this of you," she sighed as if it hurt her to say this. "There are to be no survivors in your assault. Put even those who surrender to the sword."

"Your Grace? That… that isn't like you," Albus said.

"I know," she closed her eyes and exhaled, "Atlesian Soldiers are loyal to their kingdom, even if they were to surrender, they wouldn't betray their home and join us. Besides, we don't have enough supplies to disguise all of your men. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to have this many for our assault, and we can't afford to be exposed."

"What about the Field Marshal?" Albus inquired, "he and his officers are former Atlesian soldiers."

"They were an exception," Rouge replied. "They saw the true colors of Atlas during the final days of the Mistralese Civil War, and resolved to join the side of good. The soldiers in the base are not the same as Rommel and his men."

"I see," Albus said. "Well, if it is your will, I will see it through."

"It is," Rouge said.

Albus bowed his head, "Deus Vult."

After the doubles round concluded, the remaining tournament participants were given a few days to rest and decide who of the winning duos would continue onto the singles bracket. The final three rounds of the tournament would be held over the final two days of the festival.

The woman who had directed Beacon's competing teams into the arena for opening ceremonies led Yaara, Bianca, and Alani down a hallway below Amity Colosseum's main stage. The hallway itself was unremarkable, however, hanging on the walls were portraits and photos of all the forty-nine previous champions. Golden plaques were bolted to the wall below the pictures, they displayed the names and which tournament, or tournaments in Professor Haze's case, they won. Like the video during opening ceremonies, there was nothing commemorating the fortieth tournament.

At the end of the hall was a set of double doors that led to a medium sized room. In it were a few comfortable looking couches against the walls, and in the center of the room was a table with six chairs around it. There were a pair of large television screens linked to the tournament broadcast.

"This is where you and the other finalists will wait before you make your entrance. You have about an hour, so please, make yourselves comfortable," the woman said.

As they entered the room, they saw four faunus boys dressed in black. Three of them were making beats on the tables with their hands, while a fourth was rapping. It was something about cruising down the street in a 6-4.

The woman walked up to the boys, "Mr. Coal, need I remind you that your teammates cannot be in here. This room is for finalists only."

The man had been rapping seemingly rolled his eyes, it was hard to tell since he was wearing dark sunglasses. "Do as the lady says, I'll catch y'all after the matches."

"Knock em' dead Easy," one of the boys said.

The three of them walked by Yaara, Alani, and Bianca as they left the room. The three boys looked them up and down as they passed. "Hey lil' mamas, why don't y'all swing by our dorm for a good time tonight," one of the boys said.

Bianca was a bit flustered initially by the boys' advances, but when she looked to her companions, she recomposed herself. Yaara was unfazed and didn't respond. She must've heard it all before and payed them no mind.

Alani crossed her arms and sneered, "ufa!"

Bianca didn't know Alani's native language, but from the way she said that, what she said must be an insult of some kind.

After their advances were ignored, the boys headed on there way out of the room. The woman who had escorted Beacon's finalists left with them to make sure they didn't sneak back into the room.

Yaara turned to the boy at the table, "why is it you always have to bring your posse with you Flynt?"

Flynt Jr. laughed, "what can I say, you can't keep Team FRSH apart."

He stood and walked over to the three of them. Flynt Jr. was fairly tall and lean looking, seemingly almost as tall as Cyrus. His jheri curled hair hung from under his black cap which had the word "Mantle" embroidered in white on the front. He also wore a black nylon staff-jacket over a white t-shirt, baggy black jeans, and black shoes.

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced." He extended his hand to Bianca, "the name's Flynt Coal Jr., although, you may know me as Easy-F."

"Bianca Rose," she shook his hand. After Bianca shook hands with Flynt, he turned and shook Alani's. She introduced herself as well.

Flynt Jr. turned back to Yaara after shaking the other girls' hands. She remained in her upright posture for a moment, before then cracking a smile, grabbing Flynt Jr. by the hand, and pulling him into a one-armed hug.

"Long time no see old friend," Yaara said.

Flynt Jr. chuckled, "we saw each other at the dance, I don't know what you're talking about 'long time'."

They separated as Yaara spoke, "I wouldn't exactly call waving at you from behind your wall of fan-girls 'seeing you'."

Flynt Jr. chuckled once more, "I get your point."

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you two know each other?" Bianca inquired.

Yaara turned to the younger girl, "my father was stationed in Mantle when my brother and I were kids. Flynt, Roy, and I went to the same primary school. The two of us were in the same grade and class."

"Yeah," Flynt Jr. cut in, "we would've gone to the same combat school too, but your daddy sent you and your brother to that prep-school in Atlas."

Yaara snickered, "don't act like you were worse off than me. Your parents may not have been specialists, but they were both full-time huntsmen, I'm sure they could've easily sent you to the same school as me."

Flynt Jr. shrugged, "mom and dad were never too fond of the prepier institutions anyway."

As Yaara and Flynt Jr. continued to catch up, Bianca and Alani sat at the table where the faunus boy had once been sitting. Other than him, there were only two other people in the room before them. On one side, a large dark-skinned man in a gold and orange flannel sat on one of the couches while he sharpened his oversized pickaxe. A red stubble beard adorned his face, making him look quite scruffy. Even though he was sitting, his bulk indicated he was nearly six-foot-nine and pushing two-sixty. Leaning against the wall at the other side of the room was a woman, she had tanned skin, but was slightly darker than Alani. Her black hair was beautifully straight and had an eagle feather hanging from the right side, and the skin across her eyes and the upper part of her nose was painted bright red with a horizontal stripe of white below it. Her green and purple clothing had small tassels hanging from the edges.

"Hey, you in the red," the girl called out.

Bianca turned to her, "me?"

"Yes you," she replied. "Thanks for beating Slick, he was always so full of himself." As she spoke, Bianca could see the large predatory canines in her mouth. She was a faunus.

The large man looked up from sharpening his pickaxe, "I don't know why you're thanking her Olivine. She just made it harder for your academy to win by beating Slick, all the while making it easier for Beacon."

"Umber shut up and go back to sharpening that oversized tool of yours," Olivine replied.

"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" Alani cut in. "What happened to respect between warriors?"

"This is a competition," Olivine stated. "The prestige of our academies are at stake. While I do respect my opponents, I'm not here to make friends. Especially not among humans."

Flynt Jr. overheard Olivine and joined the conversation, "you know, attitudes like yours are what makes humans dislike our people."

"'Our' people?" Olivine raised an eyebrow, "you mean 'my' people, half-breed."

"Come on, there's no need for that," Flynt Jr. said.

"Oh really?" Olivine snickered, "you were born in Atlas with a silver spoon in your mouth. You and that hip-hop group you're a part of claim to be spreading the faunus cause through your music, but you all are just exploiting our struggles for fame and fortune."

"I was born in Mantle, not Atlas. Both my parents may have been huntsmen, but we weren't well off enough to live in that city," Flynt Jr. glanced at Yaara. "Being half human counts for exactly shit in my home kingdom. As long as I have this cat tail sticking out of my lower back, I'll only ever be seen as a faunus. Nothing more, nothing less."

"There's no need for all this, if we're gonna fight, we might as well save it for the arena," Bianca said.

"Agreed," Yaara added.

"I thought Vacuo was friendly to the faunus?" Alani inquired.

Olivine looked to her, "only if you're from the City of Vacuo itself or one of the few other city-states in the region. If you're from one of the nomadic tribes, like myself, you're looked down upon. While they don't discriminate against us, there is a stigma attached to our way of life, we're looked at like we're savages."

"Savages huh?" Alani's voice went low. "I've been called that quite a few times since I've arrived in this kingdom. All because my home is wholly independent of the four kingdoms and that we live in harmony with our faunus brothers and sisters."

"Oh, that's right, I forgot," Olivine said. "You're that princess from the 'utopia' off the southern coast."

"I wouldn't exactly call my home a utopia, but our people and society are far kinder to one another than what I've seen in this kingdom," Alani replied.

"Well, let me tell you something about how the world works," Olivine stated. "Humans and faunus can't live together in harmony in the kingdoms, the cities of Vacuo and the Kingdom of Vale get close, but still. My people were enslaved, raped, and murdered by humans for millenia before the Great War. If you think events over the previous one hundred years can change that, you're as naïve as the Belladonnas."

"But we can live together," Alani said. "My home is a perfect example of that. We care for each other like family. Like brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles, even if we aren't related by blood."

Olivine laughed, "isn't that sweet. If the humans of your islands really gave a damn about my people, they would've opened up to us after the Great War. They could've spoken out against our segregation and concentration on Menagerie or aided us in the Revolution. But that didn't happen, you sat on your petty little islands in near isolation for over a century."

Alani's shoulders dropped, she knew Olivine was right. Her people, brave and kind as they were, were afraid of what the rest of the world would bring to them; disease, strife, even Grimm, and they mostly shut themselves off because of it.

"I cannot apologize for the inaction of my ancestors," she said. "But know this, if I were alive back then, and were I equipped with the knowledge I now have, I would've done at least something."

Olivine sighed, "hindsight is twenty-twenty."

"If you dislike humans so much, then why did you decide to be a huntress?" Bianca asked, "it's a job that would undoubtably require protecting and aiding humans."

"I'm only doing this so I can protect my tribe," Olivine replied. "A nomad's life is hard, especially in the Vacuo desert. When I finish my training, I'm looking out for me and mine, the rest of Remnant can be damned for all I care."

"That's rather selfish don't you think?" Alani inquired.

Before Olivine could rebuttal her, Umber spoke up from the back of the room. "Everyone has their reasons for choosing this line of work. Some are less noble than others."

"I take it you have some high and mighty reason for becoming a huntsman then?" Olivine inquired.

"No," he stated bluntly. "I simply grew up in the projects of Mantle and wanted a better life for my family. But along with that, I know I have a responsibility not just to them, but to the rest of Remnant as well."

Olivine shook her head and turned away from the others, "whatever."

"And here I thought huntsmen and huntresses were the noblest and most selfless of all warriors," Alani said.

"Sadly, it's not always like that Al," Bianca said.

"Umber said it best," Flynt Jr. stated. "Everyone has their reasons, if you want to be come a huntress because you see it as a noble pursuit, then so be it. Personally, I'm doing it not just because I have the ability to do so, but because I want to follow the example of my parents."

Alani sighed, "you're right. I guess I can't hold everyone in this line of work to my own expectations of what it should be."

Flynt Jr. half-smiled and nodded in agreement with Alani.

As their conversation died down, the doors of the room swung open and Huo walked in, followed closely by Sierra. He sneered at Alani, Olivine, and Flynt Jr. as he entered the room, but said nothing.

"What's his deal?" Flynt inquired.

"Don't bother him," Sierra interjected. "It'll be better for all of us if no one speaks to him right now."

"Why?" Alani asked. "You finally put him in his place?"

"In a matter of speaking," Sierra replied.

The woman who escorted Sierra and Huo was still standing in the door, it was the same woman who had escorted Yaara, Bianca, and Alani.

"You have thirty more minutes before the beginning of the round." She glanced at Huo, "Professor Vasilias wanted me to remind you all that any 'extracurricular' confrontations will lead to all parties involved being disqualified from the tournament."

Huo scoffed, gaining the woman's ire. With a disgruntled look on her face, she shut the door and left.

As the door shut, Huo looked from Alani to Olivine. "Great, more savages."

"Excuse you!" Olivine shouted.

"Enough! Save it for the arena!" Sierra looked to Huo, "need I remind you what Professor Vasilias told you?"

"Yeah, yeah. He 'doesn't agree with my views and I should keep my mouth shut and not antagonize the other students'," he spoke in a mocking tone.

"Don't forget that you're our academy's number two student," Sierra stated. "You represent Haven just as much as I do. So, do as Professor Vasilias says and… Keep. Your mouth. Shut."

Olivine chuckled at Sierra reprimanding Huo, but she earned the ire of the silver-eyed faunus.

"As for the rest of you, I'll ask that you don't antagonize my compatriot," she said.

"All I'm gonna say is that he better hope we don't face each other, or I'll destroy him in the arena." Olivine stated.

"No," Alani said, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Olivine asked.

Alani smirked and then stared down Huo, "he's mine."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen; The Tournament, Quarterfinals

The time for the quarterfinals came, the eight finalists left the room they had been waiting in and were escorted down the hall by the woman from earlier. As they walked, they could hear the crowd in the arena chanting and cheering. It was like a man-made thunderclap, and it only grew louder.

They were walking two-by-two down the hall as was requested by the woman leading them. Bianca was in the second row with Alani. She felt her heart race as they neared the entrance to the main arena. This was the biggest stage she'd competed on alone since her third Vale Regional Tournament in her final year of combat school. But even that didn't compare to the size and spectacle of being in the Vytal Tournament's "Elite Eight".

She quickly glanced at Alani. Her friend had a serious look about her as she glared forward. Just in front of the two of them were Sierra and Huo, and he was directly in front of Alani. If Huo felt her gaze upon his back, he didn't show it.

Bianca had always felt nervous when going into a fight, be it her combat class, a real fight against Grimm, or a tournament like this. Her heart pounded as it was now, and her mind would race, and she'd start to think of the 'what ifs'. She knew she shouldn't focus on these things. Whenever they came up, she'd think back, to when her mothers were training her, or to something inspirational she'd read in a book, to get her mind off it and motivate her to do her absolute best.

Several months ago, when she and her team were about to face off against Roman Torchwick, Neo, and Dr. Merlot, she was afraid. She was afraid for herself, for her family and friends, and rightly so, after all, Ruby sacrificed herself to save her. However, she learned from both her partner and Alani that it's ok to be afraid when going into a situation such as that. What is bravery without fear?

This was a very different situation to that night. No one was going to die in these matches, nor be fatally injured. But she still felt nervous, even somewhat afraid. Bianca had always struggled to stay on the pedestal she was put on back in combat school. She struggled to keep up with what people expected of her. She wasn't perfect. But, seeing her friend's intense focus and concentration inspired her. Surely Alani felt nervous about all this as well, not just the tournament, but also having her people's honor on her shoulders as the first of them to attend a huntsman academy.

Bianca took a deep breath and calmed her heart and mind. If Alani could be so focused and concentrated at her task at hand; desiring to beat Huo, then Bianca could focus on hers; winning her next match, whoever it be against.

The roar of the crowd grew louder and louder as the eight finalists closed the distance to the arena entranceway. Bianca covered her eyes as the outside light hit them. As her eyes adjusted, she heard the voice of Scarlet David come through the speakers in the arena.

"Everyone, please give a round of applause for your 52nd Vytal Tournament Finalists!"

The crowd roared. It was louder than it had ever been before during the tourney. Bianca looked around as she and the others walked to center stage. She felt her sense of nervousness creep back up on her, but she quickly pushed it away.

"Wahoo! Kick some butt B!" Alyssa shouted from the stands.

Bianca looked towards her teammates and waved to them. The three of them, along with Alani's teammates were all on their feet cheering for the two of them. Her gaze fell on Cyrus, who was simply smiling in her direction. She blushed and smiled lightly.

As the finalists reached the center of the combat stage, the crowd began to settle down and most sat back down in their seats. As the remaining members of Teams BLAC and AYST sat down, Lucas noticed Alyssa's eyes were glowing red.

"Are you boosting your semblance right now?" He asked.

"Yeah…" Alyssa replied, surprised at the fact her partner would ask that. "The combat stage is too far away, I can't sense it with my semblance's normal range. I've been doing it for the entire tournament, I'm surprised you hadn't noticed."

Lucas shrugged, "alright then."

Cyrus leaned over to Yin, whom he was sitting next to, "hey, what's up with Alani?" He had noticed her resoluteness and the serious look on her face.

Yin looked towards his girlfriend and partner, then chuckled, "heaven help whoever she is about to fight."

"Why? What's up with her?" Cyrus inquired.

"She seems angry about something, and she is rarely ever truly angry," Yin stated. "In all my years of living in the Southern Isles, I have learned many things. Chief among those, is do not piss off a member of the Kamehameha family."

Cyrus was still a bit confused, but before he and Yin could continue, the announcers came back on.

"We're in the final stretch of the tournament now, just three more rounds before our champion is crowned," Scarlet stated. "And after the last round I can't wait to see what happens next!"

"I agree wholeheartedly," Sage said. "You know, even though we're supposed to remain unbiased here, I'm kind of rooting for our first-year underdogs from Beacon. Something about those two girls is special."

"Ah yes," Scarlet agreed. "Bianca Rose's upset of Shade Academy's top competitor, Slick Grease, will most certainly go down as a great moment in the history of the tournament. And Alani Kamehameha most certainly showed the prowess of not only herself, but also of her people, in her match…"

A loud "chee-hoo!" could be heard from where Alani's siblings were sitting.

"However, they're going to have to face off against the best fighters each academy has to offer, and they won't have any of their teammates to back them up if they get in a pinch. I doubt they'll make it past this round." Scarlet continued.

Sage chuckled, "you're too harsh of a critic old friend."

"Alright, without further ado, lets get right to the main event!" Scarlet announced.

The eight finalists stood shoulder to shoulder as the large holoscreen above them cycled through their pictures as it prepared to pick the round's first two opponents. The first set of pictures began to slow gradually before it stopped.

"Our first combatant is Alani Kamehameha!"

Bianca looked to her friend as the second set of cycling pictures began to slow. She still had the serious look on her face. Alani then closed her eyes and took a deep breath before stepping forward out of line.

"Stop the selection!" She shouted.

The crowd went silent and the cycling pictures stopped between Flynt Jr. and Sierra Nahla's images. Alani looked around at those watching her for a moment before turning back to the other seven finalists. She then raised her spear and pointed it towards Huo.

"What's this!?" Scarlet leaped from his seat. "It appears Alani Kamehameha is calling out Huo Bing!"

The woman who had escorted the eight of them to the stage stepped over to Alani and was about to end this fiasco when she was contacted over her earpiece. After a few moments she backed away and looked to the announcer's booth. She gave a thumbs up.

"It looks like head tournament officials are going to let this happen!" Scarlet announced.

"What an unprecedented turn of events folks," Sage added. "No one had ever called out another combatant in any of the previous tournaments!"

The six other competitors made their way to their seats, to sit with their teammates and friends. As Bianca passed Alani, she tapped her on the shoulder and gave her a smile and nod. Once they vacated the area, leaving only Alani and Huo, the central stage rose a few feet from the ground.

Huo stepped forward, cracking his knuckles as he did, "you've made a big mistake, savage."

Alani looked Huo directly in the eyes. She was undaunted by his threats. "Ufa kefe," she said to him.

Bianca had just sat down with her teammates and friends when she heard Alani say that. She heard Yin snicker to himself at his girlfriend. Everything said by the combatants could be heard by all those watching.

"Is that phrase supposed to be funny or something?" Bianca inquired.

"Not really," Yin replied. "It is an insult of sorts. Translated into Remnant's lingua franca, it means 'fuck you, bitch'."

Back on the combat stage, Alani and Huo were sizing each other up as they waited for the commencement of their match. Huo stretched and popped his joints as Alani paced back and forth whilst staring at him. Once he was done, he began to speak.

"You know, even though you are a savage, I'll admit you're a great fighter." He began to unbutton his red long-sleeved changshan shirt. "With that being said, I can't afford to hold anything back."

Huo removed his shirt and flung it off the side of the combat stage, leaving him in just his blue slacks and red tai chi shoes. Coiled around each of his arms were serpentine dragon tattoos. A red dragon on his right and a blue dragon on his left.

Ember Haze who had been standing in a stairway next to her students went wide-eyed when she saw Huo's tattoos. "There's no way, I thought that practice was outlawed decades ago."

Bianca turned to her professor, "what practice?"

"You're aware dust has many uses, from commercial to military," she said. "It's even been used as a fashion trend by weaving it into clothing. But here in Mistral it was used in another way. Warrior monks in the days of old would mix dust with ink and tattoo their bodies with it. It was painful to say the least, only those with a strong will or a semblance that dampens pain could do it."

"Why would it be outlawed?" Bianca asked.

"It can be more dangerous to the user than their opponent," Ember replied. "If Huo's aura were to run out while the dust is active, the result could be severe."

Huo took his stance. It was rooted and powerful, and he formed his hands like that of talons. He grimaced slightly as his right arm lit up in flame and his left arm was encased in ice.

As he did this, up in the announcer's booth, Scarlet leaned away from his microphone and touched his earpiece, "put the EMTs on alert."

"Yes sir," a voice replied to him.

Alani was unfazed. She spun her spear over her head and presented one of the tips towards Huo. Whilst she did this, her opponent held his stance, trembling slightly from the dust circulating through his body. Aura may block damage, but it does nothing for pain.

The countdown began, "3… 2… 1… Begin!"

Huo struck first, shooting a fireball, followed by bullets of ice at Alani. He started to close the distance between them after firing his first salvo.

Alani dodged the fireball and spun her spear in front of herself to deflect the ice bullets. Huo was upon her soon after though. She struggled to parry his attacks. His movements were quick and fluid like a serpent, and his imitation talons raked and slashed at her, dropping her aura slightly.

Huo went for a roundhouse kick to Alani's head, but she blocked it with her spear. She then planted it into the ground, jumped, and planted both of her bare heels into Huo's stomach.

Alani's kick launched Huo across the arena. As he slid towards the edge of the floating stage, he plunged his icy claw into the ground and stopped himself. He then jumped back to his feet and readied himself for another attack.

Alani rushed her opponent. When she got close, she leapt and swung her spear down upon Huo. He blocked the attack with his ice-covered arm and grabbed and raked her face with his fiery talon. She stumbled back from his strike, but quickly composed herself and rushed back in.

The two traded blows, parries, and blocks for what seemed like an eternity to them, but in reality, was only a few seconds. Every strike thrown was overflowing with vicious intent.

Their exchange grew more violent as it continued; Knees, and elbows were thrown to the soft spots of the body, together with the thrusts of Alani's spear and slashes of Huo's elemental talons.

Huo landed a powerful punch to Alani's chest that stumbled her back. She quickly composed herself and rushed back in however. He smirked as she attacked.

When she was within range, Alani thrust her spear towards Huo's neck. He quickly parried the strike with his flame-covered arm and spun to the right. He then leapt and landed a spinning drop kick to Alani's head and she fell to the ground.

Huo stood tall. "Is that the best you can do!?" He held his arms out wide, "I thought you savages were supposed to be great warriors."

Alani picked herself off the ground, she was breathing heavily as she leaned against her spear. She glanced up at the aura meters; hers was at one-quarter strength, Huo's was at half. She noticed something then. Huo's aura was continuously draining, no doubt from the effects of his dust tattoos.

Alani stood of her own strength, no longer leaning on her spear. She popped the joints in her neck, "kia mate toa."

Her aura glowed, and her semblance kicked in. The orange flames that surrounded her body were more intense than they had ever been before. The great mana of her family was shining through; 'Warrior's Rage' as her friends called it, the hereditary semblance of the Kamehameha Royal Family.

Huo smirked, "that's more like it. Now we can have a proper fi-"

Alani was upon him before he knew it. She slapped her spear into his stomach, sending him tumbling and sliding across the combat stage.

He quickly jumped back to his feet, but she was upon him once more. Alani let out a ferocious battle-cry as she attacked. Her strikes were wild, yet precise, strong, but poised. He blocked a downward slash from her spear, but the blow shattered some of the ice on Huo's left arm.

He got in a solid hit on Alani's face with a fire-laden punch. She shook off the blow and stared him down with murderous rage in her eyes. She then kicked him in the chest with her bare heel, forcing him to the edge of the stage.

Huo caught his balance before he fell off the edge and readied his defense as he stepped forward towards his opponent. He quickly glanced to the aura meter, she'd plummeted his aura with her attacks, but hers was no better.

Alani charged him, all the while letting out her ferocious battle-cry. Huo knew one last strike would end the match, so he put all he had into a slash with his fiery talons, but it was all for naught.

Alani spun around as she ducked under Huo's attack and slammed the shaft of her spear against his chest, flinging him off the combat stage.

"That's it! Huo Bing has been eliminated via ring-out and aura level!" Scarlet announced.

"And the first winner of the quarterfinal round is Alani Kamehameha!" Sage added.

Huo hit the ground hard, his aura and the ice on his left arm shattering in the process. With his aura gone, the flame on his right arm had begun to burn it. Huo quickly deactivated the dust, but it had done some damage. His right arm was covered in first-degree burns.

Alani deactivated her semblance and fell to her knees, exhaling as she did so. The crowd roared with excitement as the match finished. Among the cheers, she could barely make out her friends and teammates, while her brothers' shouts were unmistakable. Her sister, true to form, looked on in silent approval.

Alani looked to where her opponent had landed, he was trembling from the burns on his arm as EMTs rushed over to him. Part of her wanted to respect Huo as a fellow warrior, but another part couldn't stand him and reveled in her victory. She was happy she'd been the one to beat him and put him in his place, but seeing him in his current state almost made her feel sorry for him. Almost.

"Alright, while our former combatants make their way out of the arena, why don't we find out who our next pair is?" Scarlet said.

The large screen then began to cycle through the six remaining finalists.

"That first match is definitely going to be a tough act to follow, don't you think?" Sage asked.

"Oh, most definitely," Scarlet agreed. "While it wasn't the best match of the tournament, I'll admit the showmanship in the beginning was second to none."

As Scarlet said this, the screen cycling through the finalist's pictures settled on the next pair of combatants.

"Ok folks, our next match will be Flynt Coal Jr. vs Olivine Orchid!" Sage announced.

As the younger Flynt made his way to the combat arena, the elder Flynt placed his hand on his shoulder and gave him a confident nod and smile, a gesture which his son promptly returned. As he left the stands, Flynt Jr. reached into his jacket and pulled out what looked like a miniature turntable set and strapped it to his right forearm.

Olivine was already on the combat stage, waiting for her opponent. She twirled a long dagger in her left hand, its steel blade was shiny and black, made to resemble obsidian. As her opponent stepped across from her, she ceased twirling the dagger and reached down to her hip and grasped the tomahawk dangling from her belt, its blade also made from black steel.

"What do you say we make this quick, half-breed?" Olivine stated.

Flynt Jr. smirked as he chambered a round into his weapon, "lets."

The combat stage rose into the air and the announcers, along with the crowd began the final countdown to the match. "3… 2… 1… Begin!"

Olivine threw her tomahawk at her opponent as she charged him. An attack that was easily dodged by Flynt Jr. He quickly raised his arm and fired several disk-like projectiles from his weapon.

Olivine spun around the first few projectiles and then slid under the next few on her knees. She smirked as she hit a button on her dagger, causing the base of the handle to glow purple.

Before he knew what hit him, Olivine's Tomahawk struck Flynt Jr. in the back of the head causing him to fall onto his face. She then grabbed her weapon from midair and leapt at her opponent.

Flynt Jr. shook himself out of his daze and quickly rolled out of the way of Olivine's attack. He fired a few more of his disk projectiles at her, one of which struck her in the belly, and the other in her face. He quickly jumped back to his feet as Olivine shook his previous attacks off.

As Olivine charged in once more, Flynt Jr. adjusted some of the dials on his turntable and scratched one of the small records. Then, a long blade made of golden lightning dust protruded from the weapon.

"I see you're not gonna run from me then," Olivine smirked.

"What ever gave you that idea?" Flynt Jr. stated.

The two combatants charged one another. For a few seconds they traded parries, blocks, and dodges, neither of them being able to land a significant hit.

Olivine smashed Flynt Jr.'s sword blade with her axe. Before she could take advantage of this however, he fired several projectiles into her belly, forcing her back.

Olivine's aura shimmered and began to glow its purple color as she recomposed herself. She smirked as an aura clone of hers stepped out of her body. The clone crawled down on all fours and began galloping at Flynt Jr. before then transforming into a large grizzly bear.

Flynt Jr. leapt out of the way of the beast and fired several of his disk projectiles into it, shattering the clone. However, another of Olivine's clones, this one in the shape of a falcon, struck him, before then shattering.

"Would you look at that, it seems Olivine Orchid has activated her semblance," Sage announced.

"Ah yes, Olivine's 'Bestial Spirit', a somewhat unique semblance to say the least," Scarlet added.

"I wonder how the young Flynt Jr. will fare against it?" Sage stated.

Two more clones emerged from Olivine, both turning into wolves, and then rushing towards Flynt Jr. He shot the first wolf, and shattered it before it reached him, he then shattered the second with a new blade made from ice dust.

Olivine was upon him once again. Again, the two traded parries, blocks, and dodges. This time, she managed to shatter some of Flynt Jr.'s dust blades, but each time he made a new one to replace it. The two were evenly matched here. Flynt Jr. and Olivine then locked their weapons together and pressed against one another for a moment.

"You know, for a half-breed, you're not too bad of a fighter," Olivine pushed against Flynt Jr.

"You're not half bad yourself," Flynt Jr. pushed back.

Olivine leapt back from the bind and smirked as another of her clones manifested themselves. It quickly morphed into a lion and charged Flynt Jr.

He spun around the beast's attack and slashed it with his dust blade, shattering it. However, another lion was on its way. This beast landed a big hit on Flynt Jr. dropping his aura near to the brink. He needed a way to pull this fight back and fast.

Olivine glanced at her and her opponent's aura levels; she had roughly half of hers while Flynt Jr.'s was barely above a sliver. Confident of victory, she charged once more to engage in melee. However, she didn't realize that her opponent was holding his ground near the edge of the stage.

As Olivine swung at Flynt Jr. with her tomahawk, he ducked low and swept her legs out from under her. He then struck her with his dust sword so hard, the blade shattered, but the impact does its job. Olivine was flung from the stage and to the ground below.

"That's it, that's the match!" Scarlet announced, "Olivine Orchid has been eliminated via ring-out! The winner is Flynt Coal Jr.!"

"And with that, all competitors from Shade Academy have been eliminated from the tournament!" Sage stated.

Professor Brawnz Ni pressed both his hands to his face at his student's defeat. Around him, his students were lamenting the loss of their last chance at the Vytal Tournament Title.

Olivine slowly picked herself off the ground. As she looked up, she saw Flynt Jr. celebrating a victory she felt should be hers. She clenched her fists, grit her teeth, and left the main arena without saying a word.

After the stage lowered back down to the ground, Flynt Jr. made his way back to the stands where he was congratulated by his friends, teammates, and father. He looked towards Beacon's stands and received a congratulatory salute from Yaara.

"I'll have to give it to Flynt Jr. there," Sage said. "His resourcefulness and awareness of his surroundings allowed him to pull this one back from the brink."

"He's not Atlas's top competitor for nothing," Scarlet added.

"You're right on that one friend," Sage agreed.

"Alright everyone, with two matches down, the next randomization will decide our final two matches of the quarterfinals." Scarlet announced.

Bianca gulped as the holoscreens began to cycle through the remaining competitor's pictures. She had a two-in-three chance of facing off against either Yaara or Sierra, while she was growing more confident in her abilities, she wasn't sure she could take either of them in a 1-on-1 fight. She felt maybe she'd have an easier time with Yaara because she'd seen her fight far more often and was familiar with her style.

This late in the tournament, officials couldn't seed the teams, so they wouldn't face off against another from the same academy. All Bianca knew was that she didn't want to face off against Sierra, she'd gladly take Yaara over her, however there was also Umber. Even though she hadn't seen him fight, she knew he wasn't among the top-rated competitors, but the fact he'd made it this far proves he's no push over either.

"And our next competitor is…" Scarlet paused as the cycling pictures began to slow. "Bianca Rose of Beacon!"

Bianca froze for a moment. With nervousness flowing through her, she waited for her opponent to be announced. She looked to her partner. Cyrus looked back, smiling reassuringly. Bianca's heart skipped a beat when he looked at her, for if no one else, not even herself, had confidence in her, she knew that he did.

"And her opponent will be… Umber Goulde of Atlas!" Scarlet announced.

Bianca stood from her seat and began to walk towards the entrance to the main arena when she got a good look at her opponent. Umber Goulde, a six-foot-nine, two-hundred-sixty-pound monster of a man. She gulped nervously as she watched him. Seeing as he was slumped in the corner of the waiting room earlier, Bianca had drastically underestimated his size. He towered over her petite five-three frame.

Professor Haze saw her student lock up at the site of her opponent's sheer size. She walked over to her. "He may be big, but he's slow," she said calmingly. "Do you know what beats big and slow?"

"Small and fast," Bianca replied.

"Exactly," Professor Haze stated. "Control the outside of the ring and the pace of the match, you'll tire him out. Also, he'll try to draw you close, and into his element. Be opportunistic with your attacks, but not greedy."

Bianca took a deep breath and nodded to her professor. She then made her way out of the stands and down to the combat arena. Behind her, her friends, teammates, and other classmates cheered her on.

Umber and Bianca stood across from one another as the stage rose into the air. She drew her sabers and took her stance, while he removed his pickaxe from resting on his shoulder. He let the heft slide through his hand till he gripped it towards the bottom.

Then came the count. "3… 2… 1… Begin!"

The dust in Bianca's sabers began to glow and she launched blades of fire and ice out of her weapons at Umber. Unfazed and unmoving, he swung his pickaxe and shattered both blades of dust before they made contact.

Bianca used that moment to rush in with the help of her semblance and land several expertly weaved slashes on her opponent. Umber took a huge swing at her, but she managed to duck under it and quickly get out of his reach.

"Hmm, you're pretty fast." Umber remarked.

He charged Bianca and reared back a heavy strike. He swung his heavy weapon down upon her, and she parried the attack with her right saber. Umber's strike hit the floor and made the floating stage wobble from the impact.

Bianca lost her balance and fell to the ground near her opponent. He quickly swung his weapon at her before she could move. Umber backhanded her with his pickaxe and sent Bianca sliding across the stage.

"Oh! What a hit!" Scarlet shouted.

"Indeed," Sage agreed. "If I was Bianca, I wouldn't want to take many more of those."

As Bianca picked herself up, she glanced at the holoscreen above the stage; that one hit had taken away nearly a quarter of her aura. When she looked to him, she saw his deep reddish-brown aura fade away. She quickly put two and two together.

"Of course, his semblance would be increased strength," Bianca said.

Umber smirked and took a two-point sprinter stance and rested his pickaxe on his shoulder. His aura began to glow once more. He then leapt forward so fast, it was like he was shot out of a canon.

Bianca went wide-eyed as she dodged out of his line of attack, with the help of her own semblance. She slid to a stop a few feet from her previous spot, just as he smacked his pickaxe against the stage. This strike wasn't as hard as the last one and didn't make the raised platform wobble in the slightest.

"What? How?" Bianca stated rhetorically.

"Strength isn't just limited to one's upper body," Umber replied as he stood and faced Bianca.

Bianca took her stance; right saber held straight out, and left saber held blade-up and in-line with her left eye. Her aura glowed, and she rushed forward, leaving a flurry of white rose petals in her wake.

She ducked under a swipe of Umber's pickaxe and landed a pinpoint thrust to his chest, staggering him. She followed this up with a downward slash with her left saber, then she whipped around her right saber and delivered another slash to her opponent. Finally, she hit him with a double-thrust of her sabers that knocked him off his feet.

Umber quickly jumped back to his feet as Bianca attacked him once more. She threw several quick-hitting and interweaving slashes, before rushing past him. The use of his semblance, plus Bianca's attacks, dropped Umber's aura to the halfway point.

Bianca looked to her aura meter, it was just above half. She knew if Umber hit her only a few more times, she'd lose, but she was still in the fight. If she could keep chipping away at his aura, she could win. Bianca rushed back in with blinding speed and prepared to attack Umber once more.

Umber timed it perfectly. Side-stepping her attack, he reached back and grabbed Bianca by the hood of her cloak, at which point he activated his semblance. With a single arm, he threw her against the stage and sent her skipping across it.

She stood and recomposed herself. "I need to end this now," she said to herself.

She combined her sabers to form her scythe as her opponent leapt at her. Umber swiped at her with his weapon when he got close. Bianca ducked under his swing and slashed at his legs with her scythe, forcing him to jump back.

Bianca spun her weapon around, switched it to war-scythe mode, and charged. She and Umber exchanged blows, blocks, and parries for a few moments. She sidestepped one of his attacks and thrust her scythe at him, an attack he easily dodged.

Bianca smirked as she switched her weapon back to its regular scythe mode and hooked the back of Umber's knees with it, forcing him to fall forward. Before he could catch himself, she struck him with the butt-end of her scythe, disorientating him.

Bianca spun her scythe around her body with great skill and grace as she struck Umber. Her movements, though soft and graceful looking, packed a powerful punch. Before Umber knew what hit him, his aura was dropped into the red.

"Wow, what a match!" Scarlet said. "Bianca Rose wins!"

"And with that our cinderella first-years from Beacon will survive yet another round of the tournament!" Sage announced.

Bianca sheathed her sabers and made her way back to where her friends were sitting. The crowd was cheering loudly around them, but she could make out theirs over all others. However, her gaze fell upon her one friend who wasn't cheering; Cyrus simply smiled at her and clapped his hands congratulatorily. She blushed lightly.

"Well, why don't we skip the formalities and get to our final match of the round?" Scarlet stated.

"Ah, yes," Sage replied. "Our final match of the day will be, Yaara Stallion of Beacon vs, Sierra Nahla of Haven!"

The crowd bellowed and roared as the two competitors made their way to the combat stage, their teammates wishing them luck as they did.

"Yaara," Professor Haze stated, gaining the attention of the student.

"Yes Professor?" She inquired.

Professor Haze looked to where Sierra was, and then back to Yaara, "don't trust your eyes."

"Okay…" Yaara seemed a bit confused, but nonetheless accepted Professor Haze's words.

"This was a match many believed wouldn't happen till at least the semi-finals round," Scarlet said. "Of our four top competitors identified at the beginning of the tourney, these two were by far the favorites to make it to the championship round."

"True, but you can never be sure, due to the randomization process for this part of the tourney," Sage replied.

"You're right," Scarlet stated. "However, I will have to say, the actions of Beacon's Alani Kamehameha earlier in the round may have been the factor to set up this match between the tournament's top favorites."

The two girls took their spots opposite one another. Sierra pressed her fist to her palm as she bowed respectfully to her opponent. Yaara returned the gesture by standing at attention and saluting Sierra.

After formalities were exchanged, Sierra activated her wrist-mounted SMGs, bore her claws, and then took her stance. She was like a tiger ready to pounce. Meanwhile, Yaara balled her fists and crossed her arms in front of her, and her wrist-blades extended from under her sleeves. Her stance was tall and upright.

The crowd began to echo the countdown, "3… 2… 1… Begin!"

Sierra opened the fight by firing a long burst from her SMGs at her opponent as she began to close the distance between the two of them.

Yaara dodged the first few rounds, but then quickly switched her weapon into its razor-whip mode. She spun her whips around her body like a ballerina would a ribbon, creating an improvised shield from the incoming fire.

Sierra deactivated her SMGs and charged Yaara, whom retracted her weapons back into their sword forms. The tiger-faunus's aura glowed its purple-gray color as she leapt at her opponent, her claws ready to strike, but it seemed she left herself open.

Yaara quickly threw a slash at Sierra, but when her blades made contact, she disappeared for a moment. She then reappeared underneath Yaara's weapons and uppercut her with a leopard paw strike.

"What the hell was she swinging at?" Roy asked rhetorically.

"So, she's actually using her semblance," Professor Haze said as she watched the fight.

Yaara stumbled back, but quickly regained her balance and composure. She advanced on her opponent and took several swings at her, all of which Sierra effortlessly dodged, save for one. Yaara connected with a thrust to Sierra's shoulder, but again she disappeared.

"What exactly is her semblance?" Roy asked.

"All warfare is based on deception," Professor Haze said. "The same can be said for an individual fight. Her semblance is the ability to make her opponent see her in one spot, when she's actually in another nearby."

Sierra was behind Yaara. Before her opponent knew it, the tiger-faunus had connected a round-house kick to the back of Yaara's head, knocking her to the ground. Yaara quickly rolled onto her back as Sierra pounced on her. She kicked her opponent in the belly, knocking her away and giving her enough time to jump back to her feet.

"Sierra looks to be in control of this match early," Sage announced. "How long can Yaara hang on?"

With cat-like grace, Sierra landed on her feet in a crouched position and watched as her opponent leapt back to her feet. Yaara shifted her weapons back to their razor whip mode and then her aura began to glow as well. She emitted a pair of her golden clones and then cracked her whips at Sierra. Her clones mirrored her movements.

The tiger-faunus acrobatically dodged around the many whips. She spun under one strike and backflipped over another, before then activating her SMGs. Sierra fired at Yaara's clones, shattering them.

Yaara continued to crack her whips at her opponent. She managed to hit Sierra in the stomach with one of her strikes, this time for real. She then managed to loop one of her whips around Sierra's leg and yanked her off her feet.

Sierra hit the ground quite hard, dropping her aura a little. Yaara used this as an opportunity, retracted her weapons, and charged in. Sierra saw this just in the nick of time and rolled out of the way just as her opponent slashed the ground with one of her blades.

She quickly jumped back to her feet. The two combatants then began exchanging blows and parries. For as skilled as Sierra was, Yaara was no push over either. The blonde soldier began to gain the upper hand on her tiger-faunus opponent as their aura's steadily dipped. Yaara then landed a heavy strike to Sierra's chest, dropping her aura further and forcing her to retreat for the time being.

"Would you look at this!" Scarlet announced. "After a rough start, Yaara Stallion has pulled it back and put Sierra Nahla on the back foot!"

"What a fight!" Sage exclaimed.

Sierra took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, before then going through a few soft tai chi movements, bewildering all those in the stadium.

Yaara's aura glowed and six of her clones manifested themselves beside her. She charged and shifted her weapons back into their whip modes, her clones doing the same.

Sierra opened her eyes. Her silver orbs glistened briefly, and she was filled with new life. She activated her SMGs and destroyed a pair of Yaara's clones before her opponent cracked her whips at her.

Sierra's aura glowed, and she disappeared when the whips hit her position. She then took out another of Yaara's clones. Whenever she turned to attack, Sierra would activate her semblance and appear somewhere else. Before Yaara knew it, all her clones were destroyed.

Yaara quickly retracted her weapons and engaged Sierra once more, but this time all of the blonde soldier's attacks only hit air. Sierra mixed rakes and slashes from her tiger claws with powerful leopard knuckle strikes. It was too much for Yaara.

"Sierra Nahla wins!" Scarlet announced.

The crowd's roar was deafening. Sierra stood in the center of the stage victorious as Yaara struggled to pick herself off the ground. She pounded the ground in disappointment. Her former opponent walked over to her and helped her to her feet. The two girls exchanged a respectful smile and nod.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen; The Tournament, A Bittersweet Championship

It was early morning, and the sun was barely over the horizon. The last day of the Vytal Tournament and the Festival as a whole was here. Within the next few days, all the performers and visitors would head home, including the academy students representing Atlas, Beacon, and Shade.

Royal Princess Haukea Kamehameha gazed out the open window of her penthouse suite, her orange nightgown swaying lightly in the morning breeze. She had a troubled look on her face as she thought of the day to come. There was a knock at her door.

"You may enter," she said as she turned towards the door.

A man with a lizard tail, the commander of her guard, Captain Keone stepped into her room. He bowed his head and placed his right fist over his heart, "aloha."

"Aloha," Haukea replied.

"You sent for me your highness?" Captain Keone inquired.

"I did," Haukea stated as she turned away from the captain.

Captain Keone stood there perplexed for a moment. "Might I ask why you require my presence? Trouble sleeping? Is there something I can do for you, your highness?"

Haukea took a deep breath, sucking in the cool twilight air, "you've been a soldier for how long Captain?"

"Roughly forty years, your highness," he replied.

"In all your years, have you ever gotten a feeling that something is about to happen, and you don't know what?" Haukea inquired.

"Occasionally, it's a feeling that comes with experience in the profession," the Captain replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I have a bad feeling about today," Haukea stated.

"I see," he said. "In that case, what do you wish of me, your highness?"

The Royal Princess turned towards the Captain, "once everyone is awake, I want them to begin packing their belongings. The children and elderly are to be ready to leave the city at a moment's notice, everyone else is to ready themselves for any eventuality."

"It will be done," Captain Keone bowed his head and placed his hand over his heart.

"Oh, one more thing," Haukea stated, gaining back the attention of the Captain. "I need you to wake my brothers, I have to speak with them immediately."

"Yes, your highness," Captain Keone bowed once more and began to exit the room. He paused for a moment and turned back towards the Royal Princess, "what of your sister, the Princess Alani? Should I have my men retrieve her as well?"

"As much as I'd like for you to, we can't," Haukea replied. "As of current, she's the responsibility of Beacon Academy, not us. Besides, my sister is a warrior and can handle herself."

"Very well, your highness," Captain Keone bowed and left the room.

As the final day of the Vytal Tournament was about to begin, Teams BLAC and AYST were outside Amity Colosseum wishing their leaders the best of luck in the final two rounds of the tourney. Both teams were off on their own for the time being. AYST's members were laughing and joking quite a lot, whilst BLAC was a bit quieter and more serious.

"The semi-finals," Bianca said. "Who'd think I'd make it this far?"

"We did," Lucas stated.

"You don't give yourself enough credit B," Alyssa said. "You were awesome the last couple rounds."

"You gotta stop doubting yourself," Cyrus added. "You're amazing. A great fighter, an awesome and intelligent student, and an even better person. You deserve to be here, competing on this stage, this late in the tournament."

"Th-thanks," Bianca blushed lightly.

Alyssa sensed her cousin's emotions and then turned to Lucas. "What do you say we give these two a minute?"

Lucas chuckled lightly and nodded to his partner. The two of them then headed inside the colosseum proper, leaving Cyrus and Bianca in relative privacy.

When the two were out of sight, Bianca threw her arms around her partner and gripped him in a tight hug. This caught Cyrus a bit off guard, but after a moment, he wrapped his arms lightly around his partner.

"Thanks for everything," Bianca said as the side of her face pressed against Cyrus's muscular chest. "You've been a great partner, I couldn't have asked for anyone better."

Cyrus smiled, "neither could I."

Bianca took a nervous deep breath, gaining the worry of her partner. "You ok?" He asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she paused for a moment, but then continued. "I was wondering, when we get back to Vale after this is all said and done, would you like to go to Sonny's Diner, just the two of us?"

Cyrus pulled away slightly and looked down towards Bianca, "y-you mean like a date?"

"Yeah," Bianca replied shyly. "A date."

Cyrus chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck, "if it's not too late, you wanna catch a movie afterwards?"

Bianca blushed lightly, "s-sure, I-I'd like that."

Cyrus smiled lightly, a light blush came to his cheeks, "It's a date then."

A voice then came over Amity Colosseum's intercom, "would all remaining finalists please report to the assembly room, thank you."

"Looks like it's time for me to go," Bianca said.

Cyrus touched Bianca's shoulder gently, "good luck, I'll see you after the selections."

Bianca smiled lightly, "thanks, I'll see you then."

Bianca turned to walk away, but she soon stopped for a moment. She turned back towards her partner and walked up to him, gaining his attention. Bianca felt her heart flutter for a moment, but she quickly composed herself as she stood on her tip toes and placed a light kiss upon Cyrus's cheek. She then jogged off to catch up with Alani as they made their way to where they had to be.

Cyrus's face turned the darkest shade of red it's ever been. To say he was surprised by Bianca's action was a severe understatement. He lightly smacked himself on the same cheek Bianca had placed the kiss. After he recomposed himself, he smiled and chuckled.

"She really is amazing," he said.

Alani noticed the happy look on her friend's face. She then turned back to see Cyrus's flustered expression. She felt glad for the two of them, after all, she did see a few similarities to her own relationship with Yin in theirs.

"I see you're starting to open up to him," Alani said.

Bianca blushed, "y-yeah."

Alani giggled at her friend for a moment, "anyway, I wanted to say, if we don't face each other this round, let's make it an all Beacon final."

Bianca looked to her friend and fellow leader, "let's." They exchanged a fist-bump.

"Just know this," Alani stated. "I won't go easy on you."

"Neither will I," Bianca replied.

The four remaining finalists waited for a time in the assembly room before the upcoming matches. What seemed like hours of waiting to them was in reality only about twenty minutes. When the time came, they were escorted from the assembly room to the arena, where they were greeted by the announcers and roaring crowd.

"Alright everyone, welcome to the final day of the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Scarlet announced. "Today we will be conducting our semi-final and championship rounds of the tournament, and in just a few short hours will crown the champion of the 52nd Vytal Tournament."

"Ah yes, and it's been a great tournament hasn't it?" Sage stated.

"Yes, yes it has," Scarlet replied.

As the round was about to begin, Professor Haze made her way over to where Haven's students were sitting. As she approached them, she saw Huo sitting at the end of an aisle. His right hand was covered in bandages and they extended up under the sleeve of his shirt, indicating the whole of his arm was covered in them. She then got the attention of Arslan, who was standing near the edge of the arena. She turned and walked up to her former pupil.

"Good morning Sifu," Professor Haze bowed to Arslan.

"Good morning Ember," Arslan bowed back.

"Sifu, I've been meaning to ask, what's going to be done about Huo and his dust tattoos?" She asked.

"There's not much we can do," Arslan replied. "The council lifted the ban on Dust Tattoos earlier this year, so he can't be punished from a legal sense."

"Why would they lift the ban on it?" Ember inquired. "It's far too dangerous of a practice, especially for students."

"I don't have a seat on the council, so I don't know most of the details. But from what Professor Vasilias tells me, it was something about it being religiously and culturally significant," Arslan replied. "Only he and Councilman Taiji, Luke's uncle, opposed the lifting of the ban."

"Is anything being done then?" Ember asked.

"He's being put on academic probation for the rest of the year, that's about all we can do." Arslan stated. "Also, Professor Vasilias and I have spoken with Huo's combat professor, he's said he didn't know about the tattoos, and I'm inclined to believe him. And finally, once the tournament concludes, I'll be paying the monastery where he was raised a visit. I have a feeling the monks there are behind his having those tattoos."

Ember sighed, "can we have his tattoos removed at least, for his own safety?"

"Removing tattoos isn't a simple procedure," Arslan replied. "Besides, it would do no good anyway, the dust is already in his system. There's no getting it out I'm afraid."

As the two women talked, the voices of the announcers came back over the colosseum's intercoms and speakers, "and our first semi-final match will be… Sierra Nahla of Haven, verses… Alani Kamehameha of Beacon!"

Arslan looked towards the arena, "we should get back to our students don't you think?"

"Yes," Ember bowed. "Thank you for your time Sifu."

"Anytime," Arslan returned the gesture.

Just after the combatants were announced, Bianca and Flynt Jr. made their way back to where their classmates and professors were sitting. As they did this, Alani took her spot opposite Sierra and awaited the match countdown. She looked up to where her elder siblings were normally situated, but the five seats sat empty today. Her shoulders slouched, and she sighed as a feeling of disappointment made its way through her body, but she quickly shook it off and readied herself for the coming fight.

Sierra pressed her fist to her palm and bowed to Alani. She returned the gesture by placing her fist over her heart and bowing her head respectfully. The stage rose from the ground and the countdown began.

"3… 2… 1… Begin!"

Sierra opened the fight with a volley from her SMGs. The bullets ricocheted off Alani's spear as she spun it in front of herself to deflect them.

Seeing that her ranged attack had no effect, Sierra deactivated her SMGs and charged Alani. The young orange-clad warrior dropped her spear forward and counter-charged.

Alani thrust her spear at her opponent several times, before pulling back and throwing a wide arcing slash at the tiger-faunus martial-artist.

Sierra effortlessly dodged and parried all of Alani's initial attacks. She connected a raking slash of her claws across her opponent's face, followed by a swift and powerful kick to the stomach, knocking the warrior back.

Alani quickly composed herself and zealously charged back into the fight. Engaging in melee once more, she managed to block and parry some of Sierra's attacks, whilst landing a few of her own.

As Alani swung her spear down upon her opponent, Sierra reached up and grabbed the weapon by its shaft, stopping its attack. She then landed a powerful punch to Alani's face, disarming her.

Sierra held her opponent's weapon in hand and inspected it, she admired its fine craftsmanship. After a moment she looked back to Alani and tossed the weapon back to her. This action caught Alani by surprise, as she'd expected Sierra to toss the weapon over the edge of the arena, forcing her to fight hand-to-hand.

Sierra took her low, feline-like stance, and with her forward hand motioned for Alani to 'bring it'. Alani smirked. She spun her spear around and held it behind her back, and then charged her opponent.

Sierra's aura began to glow as her opponent got close. Alani swung her spear down upon Sierra, but she disappeared as soon as it made contact. Alani quickly swung her spear around, catching Sierra by surprise as she pounced on Alani from behind.

Alani turned and leapt in the air as she thrust her spear at Sierra. The tiger-faunus parried the weapon and her aura began to glow once more. Alani slashed at her opponent once more, but as she disappeared, Alani found herself being uppercut by Sierra.

She stumbled back as Sierra reactivated her SMGs and fired off a long burst. Alani attempted to block the rounds with her spear, but a few of them hit home.

Sierra rushed Alani, engaging her in melee once more. She attempted to parry and block the attacks of her opponent, but her semblance coupled with her skill at hand-to-hand fighting forced Alani onto the backfoot.

Sierra swept Alani's legs out from under her, forcing her to fall to the ground. She then leapt in the air and descended upon the warrior in an attempt to strike her.

Alani saw this and quickly rolled out of the way, before then jumping back to her feet. She was breathing heavily now, not out of exhaustion, but instead anger and frustration. With a loud war-cry, Alani activated her semblance and charged back in.

This wouldn't turn the tide of battle however, as Alani's berserker rage blinded her of her opponent's semblance. As she swung wildly at anything that moved, Sierra simply used her semblance to tire out Alani.

She struck the berserking warrior several times, only adding to her anger and frustration. However, Alani got in one huge strike on Sierra, sending her sliding away.

As Sierra recomposed herself, Alani leapt in the air with her spear reared back to strike. As she reached her opponent and her spear made contact, Sierra disappeared. She was behind Alani and landed a powerful roundhouse kick to the berserker's head.

Alani hit the ground as her semblance deactivated. She attempted to pick herself back up, but she collapsed to the stage floor as her aura dropped into the red.

The crowd erupted into a thunderous cheer and applause.

"Wow! What a match! Sierra Nahla wins!" Scarlet announced.

"And for the second tournament in a row, she'll be advancing to the championship round for a shot at the title!" Sage added.

After a brief celebration, Sierra walked over to Alani and offered her a hand in standing. Alani graciously accepted the gesture of her former opponent.

"You fought well and honorable. You may have lost, but you've done your people proud today," Sierra said.

"Thanks," Alani replied. She then looked to the five empty seats where her brothers and sister would normally be sitting, "I just wish they were here to see it."

"I'm sure they had their reasons for missing the match," Sierra stated.

Alani chuckled lightly, "the duties of royals never stop."

"Indeed," Sierra smiled.

As the two former opponents made there way back to their seats, Scarlet addressed the crowd. "Alright, and with that, we'll move on to our final semi-final matchup; Bianca Rose of Beacon, verses, Flynt Coal Jr. of Atlas!"

Bianca took a deep breath as she left her seat and made her way down to the combat stage. As she left the stands, she passed by Alani who stopped her for a moment.

"Sorry I couldn't hold up my end of the bargain," she said. Alani then put her hand on Bianca's shoulder, "win one for Beacon."

Bianca nodded confidently.

"Well, one of our underdog first-years has been knocked out this round, do you think young Ms. Rose will fair any better?" Scarlet asked.

"I still have faith in her, like I said last round, I've been rooting for them," Sage replied.

"You really think she can pull off the upset against one of the tournament's top competitors?" Scarlet inquired.

"She's done it before," Sage stated.

"True, but this is Flynt Coal Jr. we're talking about," Scarlet said. "He's a Vytal Tournament veteran, and now that Yaara has been eliminated, he's a frontrunner to make it to the championship round."

Flynt Jr. was already on the stage when Bianca took her place opposite him. He cracked his knuckles as the two of them stared each other down.

Flynt Jr. smirked, "once I win, I'll be sure to give you my autograph."

Bianca chuckled, "thanks, but I'm not a huge fan of hip-hop."

"Ok," Flynt Jr. shrugged. "I see how it is."

As Bianca drew her sabers, her friends and teammates noticed something different about her. She wasn't the least bit nervous, rather, she was oozing with confidence. She looked to finally be coming into her own.

The countdown started, "3… 2… 1… Begin!"

Flynt Jr. fired several fire-dust disks at Bianca. She quickly dodged the projectiles with the help of her semblance as they exploded where she had once been standing.

With blinding speed, she rushed her opponent, catching him off guard. Flynt Jr. quickly activated the dust blade in his weapon and parried Bianca's sabers as she swung at him.

Bianca landed behind her opponent in a crouched position, white rose petals descending around her. She pushed off the ground and spun like a typhoon as she struck Flynt Jr. several times.

Flynt Jr. threw a slash with his blade and smacked Bianca in the belly, shattering it and sending Bianca sliding away. She soon stopped herself as he took aim at her with his weapon.

A hail of dust disks flew towards Bianca. Fire, lightning, ice, various elements exploded around her as she bobbed and weaved through them. She was quick, too quick for Flynt Jr. to hit.

She moved like a petal in the wind. Bianca narrowly, yet gracefully avoided her opponent's projectiles as she closed the distance between he and her.

Flynt Jr. quickly switched back to his dust-blade when his opponent got close. The two engaged in an exciting melee. Bianca interweaved her slashes at Flynt Jr. as he attempted to parry and block them, while throwing his own strikes.

Bianca shattered her opponent's blade several times during the engagement, but each time he created a new one to replace it. They were slowly and steadily whittling away at each other's aura.

Flynt Jr. parried away one of Bianca's strikes and thrust his blade into her chest. She was sent tumbling and rolling across the ground as her aura dropped fairly low.

Before Bianca could even pick herself up, Flynt Jr. was upon her. She cross-blocked the slash of his blade with her sabers and kicked him away, giving her ample time to stand and recompose herself.

Bianca glanced up at the holo-screen, both her and Flynt Jr.'s auras were far below half. She had to end this match quickly. She took a deep breath as she pressed her sabers together and formed her scythe.

Flynt Jr. switched his weapon to rapid-fire mode and let loose a full-auto salvo of dust disks at Bianca. Using her semblance, she blocked and parried the flurry of projectiles. Then she charged.

As Bianca charged, her opponent activated his weapon's dust blade and counter-charged. Flynt Jr. swung his blade at her with intent to end the fight.

Bianca slid down to her knees and leaned back to the point where her heels were touching her butt. She quickly jumped back to her feet as Flynt Jr.'s blade passed harmlessly over her and struck him with a slash from her scythe.

Flynt Jr. quickly turned back to strike his opponent, but she was too fast for him. Bianca easily parried and blocked all of his subsequent attacks, whilst striking him with blindingly fast slashes from her scythe. Flynt Jr.'s aura plummeted, and before he knew it, he was eliminated.

The crowd roared as the match had reached its conclusion.

"Are you kidding me!?" Scarlet exclaimed. "Bianca Rose has just scored her second stunning upset of the tournament! First against Slick Grease and Alban Sandford of Shade, and now against Flynt Coal Jr. of Atlas!"

"That's right," Sage added. "And with that, she'll be advancing to the championship round, where she'll face off against Sierra Nahla!"

"Alright everyone," Scarlet said. "As it wouldn't be best to jump straight into the final match, we're going to give our contenders a rest before the championship round. We'll be back in an hour and a half."

Bianca wasn't halfway back to her seat when she was swarmed by her friends. Her cousin nearly tackled her when she gripped Bianca in a congratulatory hug.

"That was awesome B!" Alyssa said.

"Yeah, you were amazing out there!" Ebony added.

"Flynt Jr. didn't know what hit him," Lucas stated.

"Thanks guys," Bianca replied with a slight smile." It's not over yet though, I've got one more match."

"She's right," Cyrus cut in. "Give her some space and let her rest and recuperate. We can celebrate afterwards."

As time past and Sierra and Bianca were resting before their final match, Rouge and her forces were beginning to make their moves. Most of the two-thousand soldiers taking part in the main attack on Mistral dressed in the Vale Defense Force uniforms they were given. They loaded their troop transports, while the rest manned single-seat fighter and attack aircraft which were painted with VDF colors and insignias.

At the same time, all of Albus's Templars who weren't participating in the main attack, roughly four thousand of his original five thousand, rode out of their base, towards the Atlesian forward operating base. Their job was to rout and utterly annihilate General Schnee's reserves before they could be mustered.

Rouge was standing on the balcony overlooking her base as her soldiers prepared for battle. She was approached from behind by two of her followers; her Field Marshal, Rommel Berg, and one of his lieutenants, Commander Amsel.

"Mein Lady," Rommel Berg and Commander Amsel saluted.

Rouge turned to them, "hello, is there something you wish to ask of me?"

"I vanted to know if you hand any other orders for us before ve left for battle," Rommel stated.

"No," Rouge shook her head, "there is nothing I can think of that we haven't covered."

"Very vell, mein lady," Rommel bowed his head respectfully.

"I actually had a concern my lady," Commander Amsel spoke up.

Rouge turned her attention to the man. He was slightly younger than Rommel, although not by much, and wearing a pilot's G-suit and carrying a helmet under his arm. He froze slightly when Rouge looked at him.

"Yes? What is your concern?" She inquired.

"What are we to do about the civilian population?" He asked. "I know you're unyielding on your orders that no civilians be harmed, but what if they are caught in the crossfire?"

"I understand that war is an ugly mistress," Rouge stated. "I know things happen, and certain instances can't be avoided. However, my orders stand, no civilians are to be intentionally harmed unless they take up arms against you. If they happen to get caught in the crossfire, be sure to keep their losses to an absolute minimum, these are the people we're trying to lead to salvation after all."

"Understood, my lady," Commander Amsel bowed his head.

Rouge pulled out her scroll and opened it, on the screen was the Vytal Tournament broadcast. "The final match is about to begin, we should get going."

Rommel and Commander Amsel nodded to Rouge as she walked past them. They proceeded to follow her off the balcony and down to where the airships were docked.

Back at Amity Colosseum, Bianca and Sierra were about to walk out to center stage and face off for the Vytal Tournament Championship. Sierra was meditating at the edge of the arena with the rest of her team and Master Altan around her, encouraging her for the coming fight. Meanwhile, Professor Haze was coaching-up Bianca as she stretched and readied herself for the match. Around them were Bianca's teammates.

"She's just sitting there," Lucas said. "She's not stretching or warming up, nothing."

"She's meditating, getting in the right frame of mind for the fight," Cyrus stated.

"I understand that much, but nothing else? No stretching or anything?" Lucas said rhetorically.

"Fighting is just as much mental as it is physical, you should know that by now," Cyrus replied.

"I won't lie, if I was fighting her, I'd honestly be intimidated," Alyssa interjected.

"Hey!" Professor Haze raised her voice. "Now's not the time for that kind of talk."

She turned her attention back to Bianca, who was crouched down, doing a side lunge to the right. Bianca had been growing more and more confident since her doubles match, and it was showing. Despite witnessing the insane skill of her upcoming opponent, she didn't seem the least bit fazed.

"You remember what I told you about Sierra?" Professor Haze asked.

"Yea," Bianca switched her stretching to her other leg. "She uses two main forms of Mistralese Kung Fu; the Tiger and Leopard styles, and has near mastered both. Her semblance is an illusory one, allowing her to trick her opponent into thinking she's somewhere she isn't."

"And?" Professor Haze raised an eyebrow.

"And she'll either toy with me at first, like a cat playing with its food, in order to find my weaknesses. Or she'll go all out from the start," Bianca replied.

"Good," Professor Haze crossed her arms. "Now, Sierra's quick, but not as quick as you. With that being said, you'll want to use your speed to your advantage. I'd recommend avoiding any protracted melee and engaging her in a 'hit and run' manner."

"Would our contenders please report to center stage, thank you." Scarlet said over the speakers and intercoms of the colosseum.

"Alright, it's time," Professor Haze said. "Are you ready?"

Bianca ceased her stretching and affixed her belt which held her sabers. She nodded to her professor and then began walking towards the combat stage.

"You got this B," Alyssa said.

Lucas smiled and gave his leader a thumb up.

Bianca stopped for a moment as she walked past Cyrus. The two silver-eyed warriors gazed into each other's orbs silently for a moment. They briefly took each other's hands and squeezed lightly. Bianca knew she had Cyrus's confidence, he didn't need to say a word, not even nod. They separated and Bianca made her way to the stage.

"Alright everyone, we're back for the championship round of the 52nd Vytal Festival Tournament!" Scarlet announced. "Who will take the crown? Bianca Rose of Beacon, or Sierra Nahla of Haven?"

"I will say this," Sage interjected. "Even though I've been rooting for Bianca up to this point, I can't pick against the academy I teach for, let alone it being my alma mater. I'm gonna pick Sierra in this final match."

"As am I old friend, as am I," Scarlet replied.

Bianca wasn't surprised by the announcers. For one, she knew that anyone in her shoes, be it from Beacon or either of the two other academies, would be the underdog in this Tournament since it was hosted by Haven. And two, she couldn't hold it against either of the announcers, since they both graduated Haven Academy and competed in both the 40th and 41st Vytal Tournaments for the academy.

Bianca soon reached the combat stage, as did Sierra. As the stage raised off the ground, the tiger-faunus pressed her fist to her palm and bowed respectfully to Bianca, before then taking a feline-like predatory stance. The silver-eyed warrior drew her sabers and nodded in acknowledgment of her opponent.

"Now, lets get this thing rolling!" Scarlet said. "Everyone, please join me for the final countdown!"

The crowd was thunderous, "3… 2… 1… Begin!"

Sierra fired a long burst from her wrist-mounted SMGs. Bianca quickly dodged the attack with the use of her semblance and shot arcs of fire and ice dust from the blades of her sabers at her opponent.

The silver-eyed tiger-faunus leapt in the air and spun over her opponent's attack. She hit the ground with feline grace and charged Bianca, alternating fire from her SMGs as she did so.

Bianca bobbed and weaved through Sierra's bullets. She took her professor's advice and rushed in and threw some inter-weaving slashes at Sierra, attacks the tiger-faunus easily parried. Bianca then quickly put some distance between herself and her opponent.

Bianca stopped on a dime and redirected herself back at her opponent. Sierra smirked as she took her stance. Bianca then swung at her opponent, but as soon as her blades made contact, her aura glowed, and the tiger-faunus disappeared.

Sierra was besides Bianca. She slashed at her with her claws, knocking the silver-eyed warrior down to the ground. However, Bianca quickly jumped back to her feet as Sierra pounced.

Bianca jumped away as Sierra slashed the ground with her claws. The two girls then stood for a moment and faced one another.

"I see you're trying to keep your distance," Sierra said. "And you're using your semblance to do so, but how long can you keep that up?"

Bianca knew Sierra was right. She glanced at the screen showing their aura's, hers was already at three-quarter strength, where as Sierra's was barely touched.

"I guess I'll just have to end this quickly then," Bianca replied stoically.

The two combatants charged one another. Against her professor's advice, Bianca engaged Sierra in melee. The two traded blocks and parries, and to her own surprise, Bianca was holding her own. Bianca's fluid weaving of her sabers was able to fend off the disciplined and precise strikes of her opponent for a time.

As Bianca swung her saber once more at her opponent, Sierra ducked under the strike and delivered a powerful leopard paw upper-cut to Bianca. She stumbled back before quickly recomposing herself.

Sierra believed she had her opponent on the back foot as she rushed her. Bianca held her ground, and once again engaged Sierra in melee. This time however, she intermixed the weaving slashes of her Vacuan Saber Fighting with the pinpoint thrusts of her Atlesian Saber Fencing.

"Would you look at that!" Sage exclaimed, "Sierra's aura has just dipped below the half way point."

"Not even Yaara Stallion got her aura that low," Scarlet added.

Bianca kept attacking Sierra with her lightning fast strikes, she believed if she kept this up, she could win. Then, however, Sierra's aura began to glow.

Bianca landed what seemed like the finishing blow, but her opponent disappeared the moment her blade made contact.

Bianca whipped herself around to see Sierra right behind her. The tiger-faunus knocked away Bianca's sabers when she attacked. She then landed several devastating punches to Bianca's midsection as she tried in-vein to defend herself.

Bianca connected with a slash from her sabers, but once again, Sierra disappeared when it made contact. Before she knew it, a roundhouse kick connected to the arch of her back and shattered her aura and knocked her to the ground.

"That's it! Sierra Nahla is your 52nd Vytal Festival Tournament Champion!" Scarlet announced.

Sierra threw her hands in the air in celebration before falling to her knees as the combat stage lowered to the ground. She was soon swarmed by the remaining members of Team SLVR, her Sifu, and several of her classmates as they celebrated her victory.

Bianca pulled herself to a sitting position, her knees pulled to her chest. She let out a sigh as her shoulders slouched. She was disappointed in her loss, as anyone would be, but she didn't feel ashamed of it as she had of prior defeats.

"There's always next tournament," the voice of her partner called to her.

Bianca turned to see Cyrus standing next to her with his hand stretched out. She graciously accepted his gesture. Behind him was the rest of their teammates along with Team AYST and Professor Haze. Cyrus then threw his arm around Bianca in a side-hug, causing her to blush slightly.

"Hey Bianca," Sierra called out as she broke away from her teammates, friends, and Sifu. She extended her arm, "well fought."

Bianca turned to Sierra and gripped her arm in a forearm-handshake. "Well fought," she replied.

"It will be an honor to work with you one day," Sierra stated.

"Alright, would our eight finalists please make their way to centerstage for the awards ceremony, and we ask everyone else to please return to their seats." Scarlet announced.

Everyone did as Scarlet asked. The woman who had been overseeing the finalists then arrived on stage as three pedestals of varying height rose from the center of the stage. She directed the students where to stand in preparation for the ceremony. Sierra took her place on the tallest, followed by Bianca on the second, and Flynt Jr. on the third. The remaining five finalists; Alani, Yaara, Umber, Olivine, and Huo, stood in a line in front of the pedestals.

Scarlet David and Sage Ayana were on the stage soon after. The two of them began to speak.

"Thank you all for joining us for the 52nd Vytal Festival Tournament," Scarlet said. "We hope you enjoyed seeing these promising future huntsmen and huntresses battle it out for your viewing pleasure, along with bragging rights among the academies and kingdoms."

"Now, if you'd join us," Sage interjected, "we'd like to introduce the headmaster of Haven Academy, Professor Neptune Vasilias!"

"Professor Vasilias will be presenting the awards to our finalists," Scarlet added.

Neptune entered the arena, he wore his typical sharp all red suit with his blue hair slicked back in it's neat undercut. He had a bit of swagger in his walk. Just behind him were three individuals, tournament officials by the looks of them. One held an ornate tray with five colored ribbons, another carried three metals on a similar tray; Gold, Silver, and Bronze, the third person carried a trophy made of mahogany with a golden face in the shape of the tournament's logo.

Neptune made his way down the line of the five finalists in front of the pedestals, presenting each one with a ribbon; brown for Huo, purple for Olivine, pink for Umber, green for Yaara, and yellow for Alani. He pinned each of their ribbons on them before moving onto the last three finalists.

He placed the bronze metal around Flynt Jr.'s neck and then shook his hand. Next, he shook Bianca's hand as he presented her with the silver metal. Lastly, he presented Sierra with the gold metal and the trophy, before then giving her a congratulatory hug. As the victor hoisted her trophy in celebration, Bianca looked down at the silver metal suspended from her neck by a red ribbon. She smiled as she found it oddly appropriate.

Bianca looked back up towards Sierra, she was still holding up the trophy triumphantly. After a few moments however, her expression changed to one of bewilderment, and she began to look around.

"Do any of you hear that?" She asked.

Back in the stands, Alyssa's ears perked, and Yin began to look around, both hearing what Sierra had. Several other faunus reacted similarly. The sound slowly got louder and louder until it was unmistakable. Emergency sirens. Mistral was under attack.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen; The Battle of Mistral

Those within Amity colosseum began to worry about what was happening and wondered who was possibly attacking, when gunfire followed by several explosions could be heard coming from the city. Shortly after, an Atlesian fighter skimmed the top of the colosseum and was shot down. The crowd erupted into a panic. Then, another fighter skimmed the top of the colosseum, it wasn't Atlesian.

Neptune took the microphone from Scarlet, "everyone please remain calm. Colosseum staff will escort you to the designated evacuation points, please proceed in an orderly fashion. Everything will be fine."

Bianca jumped off her pedestal, and together with Alani, they ran to their teams. Professor Haze was already beginning to gather the students to get them out of the colosseum. Many, if not all, showed some kind of worry, or were scared.

"Guys, did you see that fighter?" Bianca asked.

"Yea, it had VDF markings on it," Lucas replied.

"Why would Vale attack Mistral?" Alani inquired, "I thought their was peace between the kingdoms."

"There is… or at least was anyway," Ebony interjected.

"Come on people, let's move!" Professor Haze commanded, "now's not the time to stand around and talk. Get to the transports, I'll meet you all there in a minute."

Professor Haze turned and jumped over the wall separating the grandstands from the arena. She hit the ground running and quickly made her way to centerstage where Neptune, Sage, Scarlet, and Arslan were. All the finalists save for Sierra had made their way back to the stands and were with their fellow students, leaving the arena. None had noticed that Sierra hadn't left yet.

"Neptune, we need to get to the main hall and ensure the safety of the relic," Professor Haze said.

"I know that Ember," Neptune replied. "I was just about to head there now."

"Wait, what relic?" Arslan asked.

"Yeah, what are you two talking about?" Scarlet added.

Neptune sighed, "I wanted to do this under better circumstances." He paused and looked back to Ember, "get your students to safety and then meet us at the main hall."

Ember nodded and was about to run off to meet with her students when Sierra walked up to the group. Both Arslan and Ember looked at her with stern expressions on there faces.

"I want to help," Sierra said.

"That's out of the question," Arslan stated. "Go to your team and evacuate the colosseum now."

"But…" Sierra was cut off.

"That's not a request Sierra," Arslan said sternly.

The silver-eyed tiger-faunus looked from her Sifu to Ember, who was standing slightly behind her. "Ember, come on, back me up here."

"I'm sorry, but I have to agree with Sifu on this one," Ember said. "You're a great fighter, but this is too dangerous for a student."

After hearing those words, Sierra reluctantly relented. With a disgruntled look about her, she ran off towards the stands where her team was waiting for her. Shortly after that Ember ran towards where her students were directed to go to board the transports.

Neptune looked to his three compatriots, "come on, we can use my personal Bullhead to get to the academy, I'll fill you all in on the way."

As the battle was beginning, a single Bullhead landed outside the lower district of Mistral. Rouge, Jet, and Nilah stepped out as Rommel Berg hung out from the door. Rouge looked up at her forces engaging those from Atlas and smiled at the flawlessness of the attack thus far.

Rouge turned back to the Field Marshal, "I'll leave the men to you Rommel, I trust you can take it from here. Jet, Nilah, and I have an appointment with the headmaster."

"Good hunting mein lady," Rommel saluted.

Rouge pulled out her scroll and checked the time, "Albus and his men should be at the enemy base about now."

The Bullhead took off and headed for one of Rouge's airships. As they watched the craft ascend, Jet manifested a black mist around the three of them and they descended into the shadows.

Back at the Atlesian base, Commander Soliel was in her command center when she received a transmission from General Schnee. They were not yet aware of the attack on Mistral, or what was coming for them.

"General Schnee, what is it ma'am?" Ciel saluted as Winter appeared on a large screen within the command center.

"Commander Soleil, Mistral is under attack! Mobilize your forces for a counter-offensive immediately," the General commanded.

"Yes ma'am," Ciel saluted as the screen deactivated. She then addressed her subordinates, "you heard the General, Mistral needs our aid! Go to code red, I want those airships in the air yesterday!"

"Yes ma'am!" Ciel's subordinates replied.

Alarms blared throughout the base as Atlesian soldiers readied themselves for battle. Boots were strapped and weapons handed out as quickly and urgently as possible. Knights and Paladins were loaded onto the airships, and soon after they began take off procedures. Most of the soldiers, Knights, and Paladins were on the airships as they lifted off the ground, when a thunderous blast erupted from the engine of one of the airships, then another, and then, another. Before the Atlesians knew what hit them, all five airships crashed back to the ground, most of their crew, passengers, and cargo being killed upon impact. Furthermore, several explosions ripped through the armory and motor pool taking out most of their remaining heavy weapons and vehicles.

Ciel and most of her command staff had been knocked to the ground from the shockwave of the explosions. "What the hell was that!? Someone get me a sit-rep!" She shouted.

"Ma'am, all airships lost, along with seventy… no, eighty percent of our forces," one of her subordinates replied.

"Dammit!" Ciel slammed her fist against the command console in front of her, "I want a headcount of everyone who's still fit for battle. And get me a line to General Schnee ASAP."

"Ma'am," another of Ciel's subordinates called out, but failed to get her attention at first. "Ma'am, you're gonna want to see this."

Ciel hurriedly walked over to where her subordinate was standing. He handed her the pair of binoculars he was holding, and she peered through them. Roughly three-hundred meters away on a slight incline that overlooked the base was a man on horseback, he wore white robes and an ornate silver mask. He drew his sword and held it up in the air as several-hundred more individuals crested the incline.

Ciel pulled down the binoculars she was holding. Even from this distance, she could see the glistening of their weapons in the sunlight. Then she heard them shout, first it was faint, only the man in the mask, "Deus Vult!" Shortly after came the rest, "DEUS VULT!" From the volume she could tell there were thousands of them over the incline.

"Get all remaining forces to the perimeter now!" She commanded.

The remaining Atlesian soldiers rushed to their defensive positions. There were only a few hundred at most, along with a single platoon of four Paladins. To say they were hopelessly outnumbered was an understatement.

Albus sat atop his horse at the head of his forces, beneath his silver mask, an expression of zealous pride in what he was about to do for his matron. He lowered his sword and pointed it towards the Atlesian Base. "In the name of the Maidens, attack!"

Albus and his templars charged forward. The thundering of hooves beat against the ground like deafening drums and their shouts were like a bloody chorus. Together, they were a symphony of war and death.

Ciel looked out at the enemy in shock and disbelief for a moment, she couldn't believe in this day and age she was facing a cavalry charge. She soon broke herself out of her shock and issued her orders, "all forces, open fire!"

Blaster cannons and machine guns roared to life as they spat out volley after volley and burst after burst into the charging enemy. The remaining paladins let rip with their cannons and missiles, taking down dozens of enemies, but they didn't relent in their attack.

Gunfire rippled around him, yet Albus remained stoic and zealous in the face of those his god has declared the enemy. "Come my templars, ride! Ride!" He exclaimed.

All around him, his templars were felled by the dozen by the Atlesian defenders. He raised his sword as he charged, indicating his men to look to him. "Lower your lances, prepare to fire!"

The templars of the first few ranks lowered their lances, and the tips opened revealing large-caliber gun-barrels. The templars took aim at the machine-gun nests and paladins as they awaited Albus's order.

"Fire!" The Arch Deacon commanded.

High caliber dust-rounds ripped through the air and then struck their targets. The Atlesian soldiers screamed as they ducked for cover, many were killed, even more were wounded. Half the paladins were destroyed in the initial volley, and so were several machine-gun nests. Gaps opened in the Atlesian perimeter, and Albus's templars road forth.

Albus was first into the breech. He cut down a pair of Atlesian soldiers with his sword and then trampled a third beneath his horse. Like a holy river, the templars flooded into the base and brutal close-quarters combat began. Atlesian soldiers were mercilessly cut down with swords or impaled with lances. Similarly, templars were shot from their mounts or had their horses killed under them. At this point, several men dressed as Atlesian soldiers leapt out of the wreckage and rubble within the base, threw off their uniforms, and began firing their blaster rifles at the defenders.

One templar was thrown from his horse after it was shot several times. He hit the ground hard, but quickly jumped to his feet, drew his sword and cut down the soldier who shot his horse. Soon after, he was gunned down by two other Atlesian soldiers.

Ciel looked out over the battle within her base, she had to do something to turn the tide. Luckily for her, she'd managed to get Major Stallion to leave her a handful of specialists at the base. One huntsman was easily the match of several dozen regular soldiers, and specialists were even more well trained than a regular huntsman, they could be the key to turning the tide.

"Commander Soliel, your orders?" One of the specialists asked.

Ciel looked down to her watch and pressed a few buttons, soon after, three hard-light dust blades were emitted from it. "On me," she said.

She smashed open one of the windows overlooking her base and leapt out. She was followed by all her specialists. Including Ciel herself, there were nine of them. With weapons drawn they joined the fight and began laying into the enemy. The templars, no matter how zealous they were, couldn't possibly be a match for the specialists.

Grimm had begun to investigate the edges of the battlefield, forcing templars and soldiers alike to cease their fighting and focus on the new threat. One of the two remaining Paladins was swarmed by a pack of Beowolves as it was fighting. The cockpit was ripped open by the beasts and the mech's pilot was mauled to death.

Forces on the perimeter struggled against the Grimm, but they steadily pushed the beasts back. Within the base, the fighting devolved as blaster ammo ran dry and blades were dulled. Soldiers and templars scrambled for what weapons they could find; rocks, shards of glass, rebar, anything. The faunus amongst them resorted to using their fangs and claws to bite and gouge at their opponents, those who had those traits anyway.

Several templars, still armed with their lances surrounded the last paladin and began attacking it in unison. "Focus your fire! Bring it down, bring it down!" One shouted.

The paladin whipped around, swinging its arm and sending several templars flying. It then fired its cannons into the crowd of enemies, killing several more of them. The focused fire of the templars started to take its toll, however. Several shots hit one of the mech's leg joints and forced it to a knee. The pilot inside continued fighting.

More templars began firing at it, some with their lances, others with the blaster rifles of the fallen Atlesian Soldiers. They took out one of the mech's arm cannons, but the other continued to fire.

One templar who was knocked to the ground noticed an Atlesian rocket launcher laying on the ground. He picked up the weapon and took aim. The weapon achieved a lock-on on the mech, and he fired. This last blow brought the machine and its valiant pilot down for good.

By this point in the battle, the Grimm at the perimeter of the base had all but been pushed back and only a few stragglers remained. Meanwhile, the sheer weight of numbers the templars had began to show. Despite the bravery of the Atlesian soldiers, there were few left, but with no place to retreat they kept fighting.

Like cornered animals they never gave up, each of them selling their life at the price of two or even three templars. Some of the specialists had been killed as well, their prices were even higher, each one taking at least a dozen or more enemies with them.

Ciel cut her way through the ranks of the templars, until she came across Albus in the middle of the fighting. His once pristine white robes were stained with blood and sweat and his mask had several scratches from weapon strikes.

The two leaders faced off against one another. Albus twirled his sword in his hand before getting a firm grip on it as he and Ciel circled one another. They charged each other. Steel clashed with hard-light, as each desperately tried to kill the other and end this battle.

Ciel slashed at Albus and got a grazing blow on his arm, leaving a large cut behind. To her it was apparent that his aura had already been broken, or his aura had never been unlocked to begin with. They rushed back at each other and continued to trade blocks and parries with their weapons.

Albus managed to get in a few lucky hits on his opponent and shatter her aura. He then raised his sword to slash downward at his opponent. In response, Ciel raised her hard-light blade to block it, but at the last second, he ducked under Ciel's parry and slashed at her legs, slicing deep into one of them.

Ciel collapsed to one knee as she could no longer stand. When Albus came in to finish her, she threw a right hook at his face that knocked off his silver mask. The left side of his face was horribly scarred, a large gash crossed his white left eye, while his teeth were visible through several holes in his left cheek. He also had no hair, eyebrow, or eye lashes on that side of his face, indications of being burned.

Before Ciel could strike him once more, Albus pulled back and thrust his sword into her heart. The pain of the blade entering her chest sent her into shock. The Arch Deacon twisted the blade as she looked down at it, and then back to him. Albus removed the blade from his opponent, and her lifeless body fell to the ground.

After the death of their commander, the remaining Atlesian soldiers and specialists attempted to surrender to Albus and his templars, but per Rouge's orders they were shown no mercy. They proceeded to slaughter the Atlesian remnants to a man.

Albus walked over to where his mask lay, picked it up and put it back on. He then raised his bloody sword in triumph. "Deus Vult!" He yelled.

"DEUS VULT!" His templars responded.

Back in Mistral, Teams BLAC and AYST reached Amity Colosseum's docks. From here they could see the extent of the battle. Dozens of sleek and nimble fighters were dogfighting in the skies, as Winter's command ship exchanged fire with the enemy airships. All the while, gunfire and explosions ripped through the city.

Alani looked out over the edge of the docks at the city, "so this… this is what war looks like."

Among the students waiting for evacuation were those of Teams STON and SSGE. All, except for Apollo and Yaara looked out over the city with concern and worry in their eyes. The leaders of both teams instead approached Professor Haze once she reached the students.

"Professor," Yaara called out, gaining Ember's attention. "These transports are short-range and automated, they're only good to get us to the academy and back. What are we supposed to do if the battle spills over to it while we're still there?"

"Yea, I ain't going out without my weapons like a bitch," Apollo added bluntly.

"I never said anything about not being able to protect yourselves," Professor Haze replied. "Once we're down on the ground, we'll make our way to the dorms where you can gather your weapons and gear."

"Good, I was worried we wouldn't be allowed or able to fight," Yaara stated.

"However," Professor Haze held up a finger. "You are not to seek out battle, if you can avoid it, do so. You're only allowed to fight if you absolutely have to."

"That sounds reasonable," Yaara agreed.

Apollo nodded in agreement as well.

"Alright now, everyone on the transport, lets go!" Professor Haze commanded.

The Beacon Students quickly and somewhat orderly boarded the transport. Ember was the last one on board, she was sure not to leave any of her students behind. Before she boarded, she looked out over the city. Memories from the civil war years began flooding back to her, the death, destruction, and screams filled her head. Shakily she took her calabash from her belt and took a long drink, soothing her nerves. She wiped her mouth of a few droplets of alcohol, and then boarded the transport.

At the opposite side of Amity Colosseum, Team SLVR was waiting to board a transport to get to safety. Sierra had a disgruntled and unfocused look about her and didn't notice her partner calling out to her.

"Sierra, hey, Sierra, you there?" Luke asked.

Russell put his hand on his leader's shoulder, snapping her back to attention. "I'm sorry, my mind was wandering, what's up?" She asked.

"What's the plan?" Luke asked.

"What do you mean, we're supposed to evacuate with the others," Sierra said halfheartedly.

Russell, Luke, and Violet all looked to one another and then back to their leader. Russell spoke, "we know that, but is it what we're going to do?"

"Yeah, you know whatever you decide, we've got your back," Violet interjected.

Sierra took a moment to think, and contemplate what her teammates were telling her, verses what her Sifu and lifelong friend had. "Once we get to the academy, call your RPLs. We're not gonna sit idly by while another of our homes is destroyed."

Russell, Luke, and Violet all had confident smiles on their faces as they looked to their leader. The three of them nodded in agreement with Sierra's plan.

It was chaos on the command deck of Winter's airship. Alarms blared as personnel ran around between stations and the ship shuttered from being hit by projectiles from enemy airships. Winter herself was nearly knocked off her feet by one such impact.

"Ma'am, squads two, three, and seven have been wiped out!" one of Winter's officers stated.

"Squads thirteen and seventeen are at half strength, they're requesting reinforcements!" another yelled.

"Dammit where's Ciel with those reinforcements? They should've been here by now!" General Schnee shouted.

"Ma'am, we've been trying to hail them, but we've gotten no response since your last message," one of Winter's subordinates said.

"Damn, we can only assume they've been compromised," the General said with a sneer.

Another blast rocked the airship as Winter's communications officer called out to her. "Ma'am, urgent transmission from Major Stallion."

"Put him through," she ordered.

A hollow screen popped up in front of Winter, on it was Major Stallion. In the background the General could see several of the Major's specialists fighting against hordes of Grimm.

"General, Grimm have begun to pour into the lower district, we need reinforcements now!" Major Stallion stated.

"I'm afraid I can't help you, Commander Soliel isn't responding to hails, she may be under attack as well. You'll just have to hold out," General Schnee replied.

The General's communications officer then called out to her, "ma'am, a group of local huntsmen are attempting to make contact with us, they're requesting orders."

Winter breathed a sigh of relief for a moment, "how many?"

"Just about three dozen," the comms officer replied.

Winter looked back to Major Stallion, who had since turned away from the screen and was shooting at Grimm with his blaster pistol from behind the cover of his shield. "Major Stallion!"

"Yes ma'am," Marcus turned to the screen.

"I may have help for you yet. Several dozen local huntsmen have taken up arms. I'll be sending them your way," she said.

"They may just help," Marcus replied.

"Good hunting," Winter replied as the screen deactivated. She then looked towards her comms officer, "tell the huntsmen to proceed to the lower city and rendezvous with our specialists, we'll need them to keep the Grimm from overrunning the city."

"Yes ma'am," the comms officer replied.

"Furthermore, inform all forces in the middle district to pull back to secondary defensive positions at the perimeter of the upper district. Also, tell them to get as many civilians and VIPs out of the battlefield as possible," General Schnee commanded. "And finally, tell Agents Alpha and Omega to pull their squads back to Haven Academy and defend it at all costs."

Within the middle district, a squad of Atlesian Soldiers barricaded the front entrance way of a high-class hotel with whatever they could find and set up defenses inside the lobby, they made ready to hold the line as long as possible to get the civilian occupants out the back of the building. The enemy was currently trying to bash their way through the barricade.

The commanding Sergeant of the soldiers hurriedly walked besides the hotel's most prominent VIP, the Royal Princess Haukea Kapua Kamehameha. She wore the same outfit she had during her people's cultural performance a few days prior, with some additions, she had on leather shoulder pauldrons beneath her feather cape, matching vambraces on her forearms, and a belt about her waist. Strapped to the back of the belt in their sheaths, were a pair of long serrated daggers made in the same style as her younger sister's spear. They walked behind the defensive line, towards one of the hotel's event rooms.

"Your highness, I've just received orders to get you and your people out of here, so if you'd just follow me…" The Sergeant said but was cut off by Haukea holding up her hand to him.

"Those of my people who cannot fight have already been evacuated," she stated. "The rest of us have decided to stay and fight with you, besides, it looks like you could use the help."

"No offense your highness, but what could two-dozen of your royal guards do to turn the tide of battle?" The Sergeant inquired.

Haukea chuckled, "naïve haole. I've brought more than two dozen warriors."

The Royal Princess pushed open the double doors of the room, and to the shock of the sergeant, not only were Haukea's Royal Guards there, but so were nearly sixty others of her people, not counting her four brothers. All were wearing full battle regalia except for helmets, only the Royal Guards wore those, and carrying long spears. The Atlesian's jaw dropped at the sight.

"You see Sergeant, every Southern Islander is a warrior before anything else," Haukea said.

"If they're here, then who did you evacuate?" The Sergeant asked.

"Mainly children and the elderly," Haukea stated. "Oh, and a few who've been weakened by sickness. Basically, all those who are unable to fight."

"Well, if you wish to fight, there's no stopping you," The Sergeant said. "I'm just glad you'll be on our side."

Haukea smiled and nodded before turning to her people, "He taua!" She yelled as she held her fist high.

"HE TAUA!" Her people shouted in response whilst baring their teeth and tongues and slamming the ends of their spears to the ground.

Haukea's brothers stepped out from the group and took their places next to her. At the same time, Captain Keone stepped out from the warriors and turned to them, "three lines, form up, ha!"

With perfect lock-step discipline, all of the warriors lined up behind the Captain, their spears, shouldered. The Atlesian Sergeant was impressed, even if he didn't show it. After forming up, Captain Keone led his warriors out of the room and to the lobby where the Atlesian soldiers had set up their defenses.

The attackers outside had nearly broken through the door, in a few moments, an entire battalion of them would storm the building. As the large doors struggled to hold the attackers back, the warriors marched past the defenses and formed up in front of them, much to the bewilderment of the Atlesians.

"Left face, ha!" Captain Keone commanded.

All the warriors spun ninety degrees to their left at his command.

"Front rank, kneel!" He shouted.

Without missing a beat, the warriors of the front rank kneeled.

"All ranks, shoulder arms!" He commanded.

The warriors shouldered their spears and the tips opened to reveal blaster barrels. They were lined up in a fashion long since abandoned by most nations; line combat. The Atlesian soldiers looked at them like they were crazy.

"What are your men doing? They're all gonna die if they don't get into cover!" The Sergeant exclaimed.

Haukea smirked, "just watch."

The door took a few more hits as the last of the barricade was knocked away from it, then it burst open. Rouge's soldiers poured in, firing their weapons rapidly as they advanced. The Atlesian defenders ducked behind cover and returned fire. They were astonished to see the Southern Islanders holding their ground and not wavering. The Sergeant's eyes widened as he looked upon the warriors. The projectiles of the enemy were bouncing off a hard-light shield which was activated just in front of their ranks. Each warrior possessed a personal generator strapped to their lower back, and connecting the generators were streams of energy that amplified the shield's strength.

The gunfire soon dissipated as smoke had filled the room. When the dust settled, the attackers stood there in disbelief. They hadn't killed a single defender in their initial firefight. Atlesian Soldiers peaked out from behind cover, and an eerie silence fell over the room.

Captain Keone smacked his spear to the ground, "all ranks, fire!"

Disciplined volleys of blaster rounds ripped through the attackers ranks as they scrambled for cover. Many dozens were cut down by the wall of blaster rounds flying through the air, while those that reached relative safety returned fire upon the warriors. Their shots were desperate and ineffective, they just bounced off the hard-light shield in front of the warriors.

"Retreat!" One of the attackers shouted. As he said this, those around him began to scramble for the door where many more were cut down by the volleys from the warriors.

"Atlas isn't the only nation with hard-light technology," Haukea said to the Sergeant.

The Royal Princess and her brothers leapt over the defenses and walked in front of their warriors as they ceased firing. Each one pulled out their weapons; Haukea, her daggers, Akamu, a large great sword, Kaimana, a two-handed axe, Keahi, a pair of blaster pistols, and Kalani, a short sword and single-handed axe.

"All ranks, prepare to charge!" Captain Keone commanded.

The front rank of the warriors stood and all of them shifted their spears back into melee mode, retracting their barrels and closing the points. They held the tips of their spears forward and readied themselves for melee combat. The beams connecting each warrior's shield generator to one another deactivated, but their personal shields were still active.

Haukea turned to her warriors and yelled, "Kia Mate Toa!"

Haukea turned and was soon in a full sprint as she ran over the dead and dying soldiers in the hotel lobby. She was followed closely by her brothers, and behind them, Captain Keone and the rest of the warriors.

The Atlesian Sergeant looked to his men, "come on now, you're all soldiers of Atlas. Are you going to let some island rabble show you up?"

"No sir!" The soldiers replied.

The Sergeant pumped his shotgun, "alright then, charge!"

"Hooah!" The soldiers replied.

The Atlesian Sergeant and his men activated the bayonet attachments on their weapons, leapt over their defenses, and followed the Southern Islanders into battle.

The charge of the islanders and Atlesians caught Rouge's soldiers off guard as they were regrouping on the street to make another assault themselves. A vicious melee ensued. Despite being outnumbered a little more than two to one in this engagement, Haukea and her people fought valiantly and with little regard for their own safety. They tore through the ranks of the enemy. Some of Rouge's soldiers scattered and ran off in the face of their onslaught. Haukea and her brothers showed their battle prowess, cutting down enemy after enemy in little time.

The Atlesian Squad charged into the fray and fought side by side with the islanders. With bayonets fixed and weapons set to full-auto, they surged forward, gunning down foe after foe. If any enemy got too close, they were immediately cut down by swift bayonet strikes. Haukea and her people were impressed by the skill and tenacity of their Atlesian allies.

The Royal Princess effortlessly avoided the attacks of several assailants. As she parried and countered their attacks, she twirled her daggers in her hands, getting different holds and grips for every strike she threw.

An enemy soldier rushed Haukea from behind. When he got close, he pulled out his combat knife and prepared to stab the Royal Princess in the back. However, as he reached her, several blaster rounds ripped into his chest, killing him near instantly.

Haukea turned to see the soldier falling dead to the ground. She then turned once more to see her brother Keahi running up to her. "Thank you, brother," she said.

"You know I've always got your back sister," Keahi replied. The Prince then shouted "CHEE-HOO," and charged back into the fight, firing his blasters at any enemy he crossed paths with.

Princes Akamu and Kaimana fought together, guarding one another's back, while Prince Kalani cut his way through the enemy's ranks in a blood-lust. The hulking elder brothers were unstoppable, anyone who got within range of their great sword and battle-axe were chopped down mercilessly and without a fight. Kalani threw wild slashes and chops at those around him, cutting down anyone who challenged him, be it one opponent or many.

Rouge's soldiers began to rout and flee in the face of the islanders and their Atlesian allies. Those that decided to stay and fight were cut or shot down where they stood. They were brave, but foolish.

"Look at the Valean cowards, watch as they run, ahahaha!" Kaimana exclaimed.

Haukea and several others turned to look down the street as they heard a vehicle thundering towards them. It was an armored car with a heavy machinegun atop it. The hatch on top of the vehicle popped open and a soldier emerged, manning the weapon.

"Everyone, get to cover!" The Atlesian Sergeant shouted as the machinegun opened fire.

"Your highness, get down!" Captain Keone shouted as he tackled Haukea into an alleyway.

The warriors and soldiers ducked into buildings and alleyways at either side of the road as the armored car skidded to a halt just in front of them. Several islanders and a pair of Atlesian soldiers were caught in the line of fire and cut down, the warriors' personal hard-light shields doing next to nothing to stop the high caliber machinegun rounds.

Captain Keone rolled off the Royal Princess as she sat up, safely behind cover. "Thank you, Captain," she said. When she received no response, she looked down at the man, her shoulder's dipped in sadness at what she saw.

Captain Keone lay their dead, blood oozed out of his back and onto the asphalt ground. Haukea leaned over him and removed his helmet, his expression was not one of shock or fear, but pride. Pride in the fact that he had achieved an honorable death protecting his liege.

Haukea closed the dead man's eyes, "you've died as you lived, a true warrior, and loyal to the end. May your ancestors guide you to the afterlife."

The Royal Princess and the warriors around her placed their fists over their hearts and bowed their heads to salute the old warrior and mourn his passing. After a moment of mourning they brought themselves back to their current situation.

The Atlesian Sergeant blind fired his shotgun at the armored car, before quickly dipping back around the corner as several machinegun rounds tore through the edges of the brick wall. "Dammit, they've got us pinned!"

Haukea looked down the alley they were in, it was a dead-end, and so was the alleyway across from them. To make matters worse, several of the enemy soldiers they had previously driven off had rallied and were around the armored car, adding to the fire they were under. Haukea also noticed that her brother Akamu had been hit in the shoulder and was being tended to by an Atlesian medic. Near him were the rest of her brothers, they all looked uninjured.

"Kaimana! Kalani!" Haukea called out gaining the attention of her brothers. "Let's show them the strength of our family's mana!"

From across the street the two brothers nodded to their elder sister. All three of their aura's began to glow bright orange and they stepped out into the line of fire.

"What are you doing, get back into cover!" The Atlesian Sergeant shouted.

Haukea and her brothers payed the man no mind as they charged the armored car. Their aura's became like vibrant flames surrounding their bodies as they let out a loud war-cry. Several of the soldiers firing at them began to waver. Their rounds just mushroomed and deflected off the three of their auras.

"Kaimana, you take out the truck. Kalani and I will clear you a path," Haukea stated.

The armored car's machinegun jammed as the three of them got close. The soldier atop the vehicle quickly and desperately attempted to clear it. All the while, Haukea and Kalani easily dispatched the soldiers surrounding the vehicle. They hardly stood a chance in close combat.

The soldier on the machinegun cleared the jam, but it was too late. As he took aim at Kaimana, Haukea sliced off the barrel of his weapon with her daggers and then ripped him out of his gunner's seat. He fell before Kalani who cut the man down before he had a chance to fight or beg for his life. At this point Kaimana leapt into the air with his axe reared back and swung it down onto the cabin of the car, smashing it and killing those inside.

The three siblings jogged back to their warriors and allies as the smoking wreck behind them exploded. None of them flinched. The soldiers and warriors emerged from cover and cheered at their victory.

Haukea and the Sergeant approached one another. "Where to now?" She asked.

"Our forces are setting up a defensive perimeter around the upper-district, we've been ordered to pull back there." The Sergeant replied.

"Then that's where we shall go," Haukea replied.

The Sergeant nodded and then turned to his remaining soldiers, "alright you grunts, let's move."

Haukea looked to her warriors and motioned with her head for them to follow the Sergeant. They did so without question. She then jogged over to Akamu who was leaning against a wall on his good shoulder while clutching the other in his hand.

"Are you going to be alright brother?" She asked.

"Doc said the bullet passed through cleanly for the most part, I'll live." He chuckled lightly, "It is a bit sore though, and I can't quite lift it all the way. I may be sidelined from here on."

"You fought well, you deserve to rest," Haukea replied. "I'm just glad you're ok."

"Thank you, sister," Akamu said. The Prince then looked to his shoulder, "my first battle-scar, do you think father will be proud?"

Haukea chuckled, "I'm sure he'll be elated at your bravery and the fact that his eldest son still lives."

Haukea and Akamu then turned and ran to catch up with the others on their way to the Atlesian perimeter to aid in the defense of the city. This battle was far from over.

Back at the academy, the students from Beacon had landed and made their way back to the dormitory they had been staying at. The academy was in relative chaos as the professors guided their students to evacuation points in order to get them out of the academy and city as a whole for the time being. Though the fighting had not yet reached the academy, people were no doubt afraid of what would happen if it did.

Ebony was on her scroll as she and her fellow students hurried through the academy, she had a worrisome look on her face. "Come on Kim, pick up please."

Kim answered her scroll. "hello!? Ebony is that you!?"

"Oh, thank god," Ebony breathed a sigh of relief. "Kim, please tell me your safe."

"Yeah, I just got to one of the shelters in the upper-city," she replied.

"Good," Ebony said. "Do me a favor, stay safe and keep your head down till the battle ends."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Kim stated. "Where are you at right now?"

"The academy, my classmates and I are on our way to the evacuation points," Ebony said.

"Please hurry and get out of there," Kim said urgently. "On my way to the shelter I saw some flying Grimm slip passed the Atlesian Airship and head straight there."

"I'll be fine baby, you have my word on that," Ebony said. "I'll check back in once my classmates and I are safe."

"I'm holding you to that," Kim said as her voice started to get a bit choked up. She then hung up.

As the students from Beacon reached their dormitory, gunfire erupted from the Academy and people began to scream in terror as several dozen Manticores appeared in the skies above them. One of the Manticores dove down and landed between the students and their dormitory. It let out a fearsome roar before pouncing at the students. Bianca and Alani being the only students with their weapons, quickly drew them and jumped in the beast's path.

As the beast got close, Professor Haze sprinted past the two of them, leapt in the air, and delivered a powerful kick to the beast's snout, sending it tumbling to the ground and sliding away. Before it could stand, the professor ran up to it and curb stomped its head into the ground. The Manticore's body evaporated.

A second, larger, Manticore landed near the group, though not in the student's path to the dormitory. Professor Haze turned to face the beast, and then looked slightly back towards her students, "go on, I've got this."

Bianca nodded to her professor and motioned for the other students to follow her into the dormitory. As they did this, Ember turned back to the beast as it made ready to charge.

"Man, you are one ugly mother..." the beast pounced on Ember before she could finish her sentence.

Ember stepped into the beast's vicious swipe and blocked the blow with her forearm. She held up her other hand to its face, smirked, and shook her finger at it. Then, in one fluid motion, she knocked the beast's paw away and punched it in one of its eyes.

The manticore reared back and roared in pain as Ember took her stance. Her hands were slightly open, as if she was holding a cup in each, and her stance seemed off balance as she leaned slightly as she stood.

The beast shook off Ember's last attack and charged. It struck Ember with its paw, but the blow did little as her body was loose. She recoiled from the strike and struck the Manticore at several points in its paw and front leg, breaking it.

It reared back in pain, but soon shot forward as it attempted to bite Ember. She spun under its mouth and pushed off the ground with her hands, throwing several spinning kicks to the beast's face.

Every time the beast attacked her, its attacks were dodged, or deflected off the huntress. Her movements were fluid, soft, and looked off-balance, but the strikes that followed them were strong, and precise. Some martial artists say a fighter should "be like water" in their movements, but Ember, her movements flowed like a fine wine.

The beast attacked again, this time swiping at the huntress with its other paw. Ember dodged this attack once more and struck the Manticore's leg several times. Now both the beast's front legs were disabled. Ember ran up and wrestled the beast by the neck. It whipped its head around as it continued to struggle, but Ember held tight and broke the beast's neck.

After the fight Ember took a few deep breaths. Fighting unarmed against Grimm wasn't an easy task, but it's how she was trained. She didn't have much time to relax though as several more Manticores landed around her, their eyes full of bloodlust.

Ember sighed and took her stance once more, "alright then, bring it."

To her left, Ember heard the spooling of a minigun, followed by a loud "brrrrrrrt" as hundreds of dust rounds ripped through the Manticores surrounding her.

The Atlesian Centurion known as Agent Alpha walked forward as he fired off his weapon. He not only killed the Manticores around Ember, but soon thereafter turned his weapon to the sky and shot down several more that were circling above.

"Are you alright?" He asked with his deep robotic sounding voice.

"Yea, thanks for the save… Look out!" Ember shouted as a Manticore flew in from behind Agent Alpha.

The flying beast struck the Centurion as he turned, disarming him and knocking him to the ground. Ember quickly rushed in to help since the Manticore was on top of Agent Alpha, but she was stopped in her tracks at what she saw next. The Centurion grabbed the beast by its front legs and effortlessly lifted it off himself as he stood. He then slammed the beast onto its back and delivered a deadly punch to its head, killing it.

As Agent Alpha stood, the beast evaporated around him. His helmet was damaged, the visor cracked, and Ember got a look at what was underneath. The sclera of his blue eye was bloodshot and the flesh around it was jet black, like that of a Grimm. Immediately memories of those unholy 'abominations' that Dr. Merlot had created came flooding back to her, however those were not nearly as large as Agent Alpha. She was going to have to bring it up to Oscar and the others once she got back to Beacon.

Agent Alpha picked up his minigun, looked to Ember, and then gave her a cordial salute before running off to find more Grimm to kill and people to protect. After watching him go, Ember jogged into the dormitory to check up on her students. Now, they'd have to fight their way out of Mistral.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen; Revelation, Part One

Professor Haze burst through the doors of the dormitory to see most of her students finishing their preparations. When the students noticed Ember, they ceased what they were doing and looked to her. Many more of her students also began flooding the first floor from the upper parts of the building. They needed the guidance of their young professor, one who was barely three years older than most of the fourth-year students among the group.

"Alright everyone, the airship docks aren't far," Ember stated. "However, there's a lot of Grimm between here and there, so we'll have to fight our way to safety. Stay with your teams and don't separate from the group. If we stay together and watch one another's backs, we'll all make it outta here, I promise you that."

The students believed every one of Professor Haze's words. They all began to draw and activate their weapons before streaming out of the front door of the dormitory.

Teams BLAC, AYST, and STON were towards the back of the crowd as they began to leave the building. Apollo and Oliver rudely pushed past the members of Teams BLAC and AYST, the former of the two boys shot Bianca a disdainful glare as he passed her. Meanwhile, Tawney and Nikolas remained behind the two teams, they shook their heads at their leader's and his partner's actions.

"Jeez, you would think losing in the qualifiers would've humbled him," Cyrus said.

"I doubt he has a single humble bone in his body," Ebony stated.

"He's been holding a grudge against you guys since that match you know," Tawney interjected. "Now's not the time to be focused on things like that though."

"Have you tried telling him that?" Ebony inquired.

"We did, he wouldn't listen to either Nikolas nor I," Tawney replied.

"Let's worry about that when we're on the evac-ship," Bianca said.

The silver-eyed warrior's teammates and friends looked to one another for a moment before nodding in agreement. The ten of them then followed after their classmates.

The students and their professor emerged from the dormitory, the situation in the academy had grown worse in the few moments since they arrived. Many more Grimm had begun to swarm the academy; Manticores, Lancers, and Nevermores roamed the skies and swooped down on any unlucky enough to fall into their sights. All the while, Beowolves and Beringels scaled the steep mountain walls near the evacuation points at the airship docks. Worst of all however, a Sphinx circled the skies above, looking for prey.

"Ok everyone, let's move!" Professor Haze shouted as she motioned for the students to follow her.

The students followed their professor through the academy and the hordes of Grimm, fighting the entire way. The monsters attacked from all sides, but the student's lines held strong. Teams stood together and partners back to back as they fought, and Professor Haze gave help where she could. They fought as if their lives depended on it, which they did.

At the head of the group, Professor Haze roundhouse kicked a Beowolf and sent it flying past herself. Behind her, Scarlet Winchester of Team SSGE smashed the beast's head into the concrete with her morning-star mace.

Lucas and Alyssa had been separated in the fighting. As he fought, he backed into someone or something. When he turned to strike, he saw it was Tawney and lowered his weapon. Then, a Manticore came flying at the two of them. Lucas combined his weapons to form his bow and together the two archers loosed arrows into the beast, killing it before it reached them.

Oliver chopped a Beowolf in half with his kukri and then switched his weapon to its pistol mode and killed a Beringel that was about to attack Apollo from behind. The boxer turned to his partner and nodded to him in thanks.

Alani and Yin carved a bloody path through the Grimm, their years of training together in the Southern Isles had already made them a potent duo. Meanwhile, their teammates Roy and Ebony fought near back to back. Roy used all the elemental dust at his disposal; fire, ice, lightning, and wind, to keep the enemy at bay. Ebony had abandoned her weapon's rail-sniper form in the melee and instead chopped down Grimm with its battle-axe mode.

Alyssa found herself surrounded by Grimm. Despite this, none of the beasts were able to touch her. Her parries were swift, her blocks stalwart, and following them were devastating combos of punches and spinning kicks.

Bianca was knocked to the ground by a Manticore. As the Beast Pounced to finish her, Cyrus rushed between them and stopped it with one of his aura barriers. He quickly deactivated his semblance and thrust his sword into the beast's mouth, killing it.

As Bianca jumped to her feet, the sphinx landed in the melee. Ember rushed past her two silver-eyed students at the beast, they opted to give her some backup. Once the professor got close, she leapt in the air and delivered a back-flip kick to the beast's chin, shortly after that, Bianca and Cyrus charged in and slashed at its front legs. The beast reared back and flapped its wings, sending out a gust of wind that nearly knocked its three attackers off their feet.

"That thing's tough," Cyrus stated.

"Let's clip its wings," Bianca said as she combined her sabers to form her scythe.

Cyrus nodded to his partner and then turned to Ember, "professor, make us an opening."

Ember turned to her two students, "will do."

Cyrus and Bianca held their respective weapons in one hand while wrapping their free arm around one another. The Professor then charged forward and leapt in the air, delivering a swift and powerful kick to the beast's face before jumping away. As it shook the attack off, Bianca activated her semblance, shooting both she and Cyrus towards the monster. When they got close, they separated from one another and slashed the beast's wings off in one fell swoop.

As the Sphinx roared in agony, Ember rushed back in and slammed its head into the ground with a powerful dropkick. Shortly thereafter, Cyrus and Bianca jumped from the beast's back and swung their weapons down on its neck, decapitating it.

The students and their professor continued to push through the ranks of Grimm and eventually neared the evacuation zone. As they entered the airship docks more Grimm began to descend upon them. They were aided slightly by some Atlesian soldiers led by the female Centurion, Agent Omega. She rushed forward to cover the students and shot down many Grimm with her dual PDWs.

"Apollo, look out!" Oliver shouted.

A Nevermore swooped in and grabbed Apollo by the shoulders and began to fly off, but the boxer wasn't going out like that. "Let go of me you son of a bitch!"

Apollo managed to get one of his arms free and began violently punching the Nevermore's other talon. It soon let go and Apollo fell to the ground, but he had miscalculated how high he was.

He hit the ground, his aura already low, wasn't able to fully dampen the impact and it shattered. He both felt and heard the crack run through his leg. He let out an audible cry of pain as he grabbed it. Both the femur and fibula in his right leg were broken in the fall.

Apollo froze as he heard a bestial growl near him. He slowly turned to see an Alpha Beowolf creeping up on him from his right. His teammates and professor noticed this and rushed to his aid, but they weren't fast enough. The beast pounced as a flash of white shot past Ember and the rest of Team STON.

He screamed what he believed to be his last as he shut his eyes and raised his fists to desperately protect himself, however the pain of claws and teeth tearing into his flesh never came. Apollo opened his eyes to see white rose petals descending around him. When he looked forward, he saw Bianca standing between him and the Alpha. The beast was sliced clean in two as its body evaporated.

Professor Haze and the rest of Team STON soon arrived. Oliver and Nikolas helped Apollo up and supported him as he stood on his one good leg. They began to carry him away, but the boxer spoke.

"Wait, wait," he said to his teammates. Apollo then looked at the girl he and his partner had bullied mercilessly over nearly the past year as guilt and regret filled him. "Thanks Bianca."

Oliver looked to Bianca as well as he gave her a gracious and apologetic nod.

"It was no problem," Bianca replied.

Nikolas and Tawney looked to one another and smiled at what had just happened. Perhaps this would be the catalyst that will change their leader for the better. Oliver and Nikolas then carried Apollo away as Tawney followed, prepared to cover them if they were attacked.

There was a host of other people at the evacuation site from all the other academies when the Beacon students arrived. Oliver and Nikolas set Apollo down with other severely injured people. Near immediately an Atlesian medic began tending to his broken leg.

Ember Haze stood at the entrance of the zone counting her students as they passed. She knew she had forty-one teams with her, one-hundred-sixty-four students in all that made the trip from Beacon to Haven. As she counted, she suppressed the hope in her that all had survived, only a miracle could ensure that. However, counting by groups, she soon reached the magic number, but she wasn't sure about it. She kept the possibility open that maybe she miscounted. It was only the reality of their situation after all.

As she turned to follow her students into the evacuation zone, she saw a great flash of white light come from within the Academy, the telltale sign of a silver-eyed warrior in battle. Ember knew there was only one other of them besides Cyrus and Bianca in the whole Academy.

"That idiot," Ember said under her breath. She then took off running towards the academy.

Yaara turned and saw her professor running, "Professor Haze, where are you going?"

Ember turned slightly, "don't worry about me, just get in line for evacuation. If I'm not on the transport with you all, I'll be on the next one out."

As Ember ran through the campus of Haven, she heard the sounds of battle all around her, but she homed in on a certain point. As she rounded the corner of a building, she saw yet another great white light, along with a silhouette of several Grimm being vaporized. After the light dissipated, she saw the members of Team SLVR finishing off a few stragglers among the Grimm.

She ran up to the four students, all of whom were in their battle attire and fully armed. "What the hell are you all still doing here?!"

Before her teammates could speak in her defense, Sierra stepped forward. "It was my call. I'm not gonna watch from afar again as my home gets burned to the ground!"

Ember was about to retort, but something stopped her. She knew the sentiment Sierra had, after all, they both grew up during the civil war years, as did Sierra's teammates; Luke, Violet, and Russell. They had all lost something.

"Fine," Ember stated. "If you want to defend your home, then come with me. But, you, Sifu, and I are going to have a nice long chat after this." She then turned to Sierra's teammates, "you three are gonna get an earful too."

Team SLVR was taken aback slightly and were no doubt intimidated by Ember, but nonetheless, they all agreed. The five of them then ran off towards Haven's main hall to meet up with Neptune, Scarlet, Sage, and Arslan.

At Haven's main hall, Scarlet, Sage, and Arslan were reeling from what Neptune had told them. They couldn't believe what they had heard; maidens that could control the elements, magical relics that when brought together could summon gods who'd judge Remnant and possibly destroy it, and above all, Professor Pine had the spirit of a millennia's old wizard from a by gone age inhabiting his body.

"You all doing ok?" Neptune asked them.

"Are we doing ok?" Scarlet retorted. "I'm sorry, but we should be asking you that. Man, what have you been smoking?"

"I'm being serious," Neptune replied. "And for your information, I haven't smoked anything in my life."

"I believe him," Arslan said.

"Same," Sage added.

Scarlet looked to his compatriots with disbelief, but then sighed. "I guess I'll go along with this too, what do we have to lose?"

"Your lives," a voice called from the balcony overlooking the ground floor.

The four professors turned immediately to see Rouge, Jet, and Nilah standing above them. The three of them then dropped down from the balcony to the ground floor, where they faced the professors.

"Rouge," Neptune said as he drew his trident.

Seeing this, Scarlet drew his sword and pistol, Sage drew his great sword, and Arslan took her wide and low stance. In response Jet drew his serrated ballistic short-sword and Nilah drew her Tessen War Fans.

Neptune pointed his trident at the Summer Maiden, "good luck getting the relic. Because unless your lady friend there is the Spring Maiden, you're not opening the vault."

Rouge chuckled, "oh Neptune, this is why you and your friends in Oscar's inner circle haven't been able to track me down. You think, you know what I want, but you have no idea."

"What do you want then?" Neptune inquired.

"Your head," Rouge replied laconically.

"Bring it," Neptune said. "You may be a maiden, but you're facing four fully trained huntsmen, with only children to back you up."

Rouge sighed, "you're arrogant and naïve, just like the rest of your allies." She then looked past the headmaster, "Lioness, if you would."

"Yes, my lady," Arslan said.

Before the three other professors knew what hit them, Arslan shot out her rope-dart and wrapped it around Scarlet's neck. The huntsman unintentionally dropped his weapons as he struggled to free himself. Meanwhile, before they could assist him, Rouge drew her retractable short-swords and attacked Neptune while Jet and Nilah took on Sage.

Sage quickly blocked a dual attack from both of the Dusk twins with his sword. With one powerful shove, he pushed the two of them back.

"You're strong," Nilah said behind a manic smile. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

"Sister, stay focused," Jet said apathetically.

"Oh, I am focused brother," Nilah replied. "Focused on how much fun I'm gonna have with him!"

"Fucking psycho," Sage said to himself.

Jet and Nilah then lunged at the huntsman and attacked the large man in unison. Their attacks were quick, and they easily dodged and parried the lumbering slashes of Sage's great sword. They chipped away at his aura little by little.

Scarlet desperately reached for either of his weapons, but whenever it seemed like he was getting close to grabbing it, Arslan tightened her rope-dart around his neck. Slowly he began to lose consciousness.

"Hang on Scarlet, I'm coming to help!" Neptune called out to his friend.

Rouge descended upon him and struck the headmaster with her swords, knocking him to the ground. "Don't lie to him, he's going to die, and so are you and your other friend."

Scarlet finally lost consciousness from the lack of air. When his body fell limp, Arslan released her rope-dart from his neck and walked up to him. In one hand she grabbed his chin, and the other, the back of his head. She quickly and viciously broke his neck, killing him instantly.

Neptune heard his friend's neck snap and looked in his direction, "no!"

Neptune pushed Rouge away, and in a blood rage, charged Arslan. He swung his trident wildly at her, but the strikes only hit air as she effortlessly dodged and parried them. "You killed my friend you fucking traitor!"

Arslan ducked under Neptune's next strike and then rapidly punched him several times in the chest, before then roundhouse kicking him in the face. He dropped his weapon as he slid away from her.

As Neptune went to pick himself up, he saw Jet and Nilah shatter Sage's aura. Nilah slashed him in the chest, drawing blood, and then jet stabbed him in the back, delivering the killing blow.

Before he could do anything, Rouge walked up to him, shooting flames from one of her hands. His aura blocked the attack for a moment, but then his too was shattered. Rouge halted her flames before she burned the headmaster.

Jet and Nilah restrained Neptune by grabbing his arms and holding them behind him. The headmaster knew he was beaten, but he didn't show it.

"You know, normally I'd cleanse you with fire, but I have to maintain a certain… plausible deniability in all this," Rouge said. "Any last words headmaster?"

Neptune looked to Arslan, rage and hate filled his eyes. "I hope you live forever."

Arslan didn't break eye contact and stared down her former ally as Rouge drew one of her short swords. In one swift motion, she cut Neptune's throat. Jet and Nilah let go of him as he choked and watched as his lifeless body fell to the ground.

"Neptune, no!" A voice shouted from the entrance way of the main hall. Rouge and her allies turned to see Ember and Team SLVR standing there. The five of them had arrived just as Rouge killed the headmaster.

"Sifu, what is all this?" Sierra asked.

Arslan stepped forward, there was a stern look on her face, "I told you to evacuate, what are you still doing here!?"

"Don't try to change the subject Sifu," Ember stated.

Arslan sighed and looked to Rouge for a moment. The maiden nodded her head, and Arslan turned back to Ember and Team SLVR, "Mistral has betrayed its people, and now it's time for a change. Come with me and I'll explain everything in detail once the battle is finished." Arslan held out her hand.

Sierra began to walk to her Sifu, but Ember put her hand in front of her. "From the looks of things, it's you who've betrayed Mistral and its people."

"Well this is certainly a turn of events," Rouge said. "Lioness, I take it you can handle this rabble, whatever it may take."

"Yes, my lady," Arslan replied.

"Very well, we'll be off then," Rouge stated. "Let me know if your students and their friends decide to come around."

Rouge, Jet, and Nilah then began to head out the back of the main hall. Since there were no substantial shadows around, they couldn't use Jet's semblance to escape the building.

"Sierra," Ember said, gaining the attention of her friend. "Take your team and go after them. Don't let them escape, no matter what."

Sierra looked to Ember and gave her a confident nod.

Arslan stepped in their paths, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that. Just listen to me please."

Before Arslan could continue, Ember attacked, allowing Team SLVR to rush past them and after the maiden and Dusk twins. Arslan blocked her former student's attacks and jumped away.

"Do you know what you've done?" Arslan asked.

"Yeah, they're gonna stop your murderous friends Sifu," Ember replied.

"No, you've sent them to their deaths," Arslan retorted.

"I know Rouge is a maiden, but have you no faith in your pupil and her teammates Sifu?" Ember retorted.

"You obviously don't comprehend the true power maidens possess," Arslan said. "I couldn't beat her."

Ember was taken aback by Arslan's words. Maybe she was right, maybe she did unknowingly send Sierra to her death. 'No,' she thought to herself. Sierra was strong, one of the strongest people she'd known in her life. Even without the power of her silver-eyes, she could defeat Rouge, or so she believed.

Back at the airship docks, things were getting harry. A pair of fighters with VDF markings flew through the swarms of aerial Grimm. One was taken down by a nevermore, while the other made it through relatively unscathed. It proceeded to strafe one of the transports and the people around it, killing many, including a few Atlesian Soldiers. It took fire from the defenders as it flew off, the transport it attacked, falling from the docks and crashing to the ground, killing all those on board.

The Beacon students and many others nearby looked on in shock and horror at the blatant war crime that had been committed. They couldn't believe that the Kingdom of Vale would do this sort of thing. There was nothing they could do though, except watch.

Yaara continued to pace back and forth at the entrance of the evacuation zone. Her fellow students were getting closer to being evacuated, but there was still a long line of people before them. That's not what she was stressing about, however.

"Dammit, where's Professor Haze, she should've been back by now," she said.

"Yaara, what's the matter?" Bianca asked, as she and her teammates walked up to the older girl.

"It's Professor Haze, she ran back into the academy after we got here," Yaara replied. "I know she's a huntress and can handle herself, but still, it has me worried."

"Well, we can't just leave her behind, can we?" Bianca asked rhetorically. She then turned to her teammates, "lets go find the professor."

Alyssa, Cyrus, and Lucas all nodded in agreement with their leader. The four of them then ran out of the evacuation zone and back into the academy. Nearby, Team AYST saw their friends leave the evacuation zone.

"What are they doing? Are they crazy?" Roy asked.

"I don't know, but we should give them some back-up," Alani said.

Team AYST then ran out of the evacuation zone as well and followed their friends, quickly catching up to them.

Within Haven's main hall Ember and Arslan circled one another as they prepared to fight. Each one was in their stance; Arslan's was wide, low, and looked rigid, while Ember's looked loose and off-balance.

"I still don't understand why you've betrayed us," Ember said.

"I haven't betrayed anyone, Mistral has betrayed its people for the last time," Arslan retorted. "Many hundreds of thousands died as the civil war raged. My entire team was killed; Reese, Nadir," she choked up for a moment, "my husband Bolin. All of them died trying to protect the people, while the council sat idly by and did nothing!"

"You're selfish, you know that," Ember said. "You know damn well the council couldn't do anything. Mistral, the city itself, was under siege for most of the war, they wanted to help the rest of the kingdom, but they were unable to. And you're not the only one who lost friends and family during the war. Both my parents were killed during the first siege, and Sierra's entire village was slaughtered by one of the militias. Everyone she'd ever known, dead, before her very eyes."

Arslan sprung from her stance and struck at Ember. The two martial artists traded blows, blocks, and parries. Arslan was rigid and disciplined in her attacks and blocks, while Ember drunkenly dodged and parried her Sifu's attacks. After a moment, they jumped away from one another.

Ember chuckled, "you know, I thought you, Sierra, and I had a happy family once you took us in. You were more than our Sifu, we thought of you as our mother, and each other as sisters. You and I may have not always seen eye to eye, which led me to choose Beacon over Haven, but I never once regretted thinking of you as my mother. And even after seeing how far you've fallen, I still don't." A tear fell from Ember's eye.

"I share your sentiments, I truly do," Arslan replied. "But you obviously don't see things as they truly are. Oscar, Neptune, the council, they would all cast you aside on a whim if it meant furthering their goals, they don't care for you or anyone for that matter. But Rouge, she truly cares for those who follow her. If you'd just join us, I can convince her to spare Sierra and her team, and the three of us can continue to rebuild our family." Arslan again held out her hand.

"No," Ember stated. "While I still think of you as my mother, you threw away our family the moment you sided with her."

Arslan sighed, "then you've forced my hand. I'm sorry, my pupil."

"I'm sorry too, Sifu," Ember replied.

They took their stances once again and charged one another. It was professor vs professor, huntress vs huntress, and above all, student vs master. This fight was for real. Every punch and kick was thrown with more than just the weight of their bodies behind it, but also the weight of their emotions.

Ember threw a right hook, which Arslan easily blocked with her wrist. The master then threw several quick punches to her student's abdomen, stumbling her back.

Ember reeled from the attack. She placed her hand on her chest as she heaved and caught her breath. The student charged her master. She leapt in the air and threw a quick kick at Arslan's face, a blow she easily cross blocked with her forearms.

Arslan pushed her student back, and counter-attacked. She threw a palm strike aimed for Ember's temple. The student leaned back and dodged the strike. The master shot her rope-dart at Ember's leg, entrapping it. She then yanked on it, sending her tumbling to the ground.

Ember quickly rolled out of the way as Arslan attempted to stomp on her. Before she could stand, her opponent kept attempting to stomp on her, narrowly missing each time. Ember then quickly reversed the direction of her roll, forcing her master to jump over her to avoid falling.

With the brief moment she had been allotted, Ember kicked herself up and back to her feet. She then charged Arslan once more and this time she managed to land several powerful strikes to her master's head and body. She concluded her attack by connecting with a kick to Arslan's stomach.

Arslan slid back from the force of her student's attacks. She held her stomach as she breathed heavily. "You've gotten better."

"I had a great master," Ember replied.

Arslan chuckled slightly. She then popped the joints in her neck and shoulders before throwing off her red sash and yellow robe, leaving her in just her black pants, chest-wrap, and shoes. She began to hop back and forth on the balls of her feet.

Ember cautiously approached her master. When she got close and threw a punch, Arslan deflected it and countered with a swift kick to her student's jaw, knocking her back. Every time the student got close, the master would parry her attack and counter with some type of kick.

After one of Ember's unsuccessful attacks, Arslan threw a round house kick to her head, an attack the student easily blocked. However, the master quickly pushed off and connected with a powerful reverse kick to her student's temple.

Ember stumbled back in a daze, but Arslan gave her no opportunity to recuperate. The master attacked her student mercilessly as Ember attempted to dodge and parry her attacks. Kicks and punches were thrown to the body and head, none of which Ember could protect herself from.

Arslan hit Ember with a left-right cross, followed by an uppercut which sent her student flying back. Her aura was shattered before she even hit the ground.

Ember tried to stand as Arslan walked over to her. The master grabbed her student by the hair, gaining an audible "gah!" of pain from her. She raised her hand and formed it like a leopard's paw, however as she made eye contact with Ember, she froze for a moment.

Tears fell from both their eyes as they looked to each other, both remembering when times were simpler and happier. All the days spent training or spending time together, the injuries that Ember or Sierra had obtained, that Arslan treated as a mother would. Through the good and the bad, they always knew they had one another. They, along with Sierra, were truly a family. But those days were gone now.

Arslan shut her eyes as she changed her hand's form to a fist and then stuck out her index and middle fingers. She then struck Ember in a pressure point on her neck, knocking her out. She couldn't bring herself to kill someone she cherished more than anything in the world. She couldn't kill her own daughter.

As she looked over her unconscious student, she pulled out the dagger portion of her rope dart. She pressed it to her own side and sliced a deep cut in it, to make it seem as if she too was a victim of what had occurred in the main hall. She then walked over and cut a hole in both her sash and robe before then wiping the blood off her weapon around the cuts. Clutching her side, she walked out a side exit of the main hall.

As she was about to leave, she looked back to her unconscious student. An expression of sadness and regret filled her face. "Why couldn't you two see reason." She then exited the building.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen; Revelation, Part Two

Teams BLAC and AYST fought their way through packs of Grimm as they searched for their professor. They scoured building after building as they called out for her, all the while attracting more Grimm to themselves. Soon however, they came across the main hall.

"Come on, maybe she's in here," Bianca called to her companions.

When the two teams entered the building, they were horrified by what they saw. Strewn out across the floor where the bloodstained bodies of Professors Vasilias, David, and Ayana. Most of them were in shock at the sight, Roy even ran to the corner and puked up his lunch. While they found it sad that the professors were dead, Cyrus and Lucas had seen death before and were mostly unfazed.

Ebony noticed Arslan's blood stained robes. "Looks like Master Altan got hurt, but I don't see her anywhere. Hopefully she escaped whatever happened here."

Alyssa sensed someone at the far side of the room from them, "guys, over here!"

The eight students ran over to their professor who was lying unconscious on the ground. Lucas checked her pulse.

"She's still alive, but just barely," he said.

Lucas and Roy picked up Professor Haze and slung her over their shoulders. As they moved her, she grumbled something. "Who… what…"

"Professor, it's us, Teams BLAC and AYST. We came to get you outta here," Bianca said.

She was still out of it from her fight, against who, the students didn't know, "SLVR… after her… help… them…"

"Wait," Bianca stated, "Team SLVR's still here!? Where'd they go?"

"After… her…" Professor Haze struggled to say.

"After who?" Cyrus cut in.

"R… Rouge…" Professor Haze said. "They… out… back…"

Bianca looked from the professor to Alani, "Al, take your team and get Professor Haze to the evac zone. We're going to find Team SLVR and get them out too."

Alani nodded to Bianca, "you make sure to get back to the evac zone, we won't let them leave without you."

"We'll meet you at the docks," Bianca replied with a confident smile.

At that point Yin took Professor Haze's other arm from Lucas and slung it over his own shoulder. The two teams split up; Team BLAC rushed out the back of the main hall, while Team AYST ran out the front.

Team SLVR harassed Rouge, Jet, and Nilah as they chased them, not allowing the male Dusk twin to use his semblance so the three could escape. They rushed out of the academy and into the upper city. The two groups soon found themselves in the town square, where the maiden and her allies turned to face their pursuers.

The square had been relatively untouched by the battle raging in the city and academy. Despite that, there was a smoking wreck of an Atlesian fighter on the road that ran parallel to it. The aircraft had torn up the asphalt and concrete along its path. Meanwhile, the ornate fountain in the center of the marble-floored square had ceased spouting water. Atop the fountain was a bronze statue of Mistral's last king and first emperor, Yu Huangdi.

Rouge stood atop the statue as Jet and Nilah stood on the borders of the fountain. Team SLVR stopped and faced them. All had their weapons at the ready.

"You know, it's really a shame," Rouge stated. "Your master assured me of your loyalty to her and what she deemed right. But apparently, she was wrong."

"Shut up!" Sierra shouted. "I don't know what Sifu has to do with all this, but I'm going to find out, after I defeat you."

Rouge chuckled, "how optimistic of you." She looked to the Dusk twins, "Jet, Nilah, deal with this one's friends, leave her to me."

"Yes, my lady," they replied; one apathetically, the other manically.

The twins sprung from where they were standing. Jet engaged Luke, whilst his sister attacked both Russell and Violet. Rouge jumped down from the statue and pulled out her dual retractable short swords as she walked towards her silver-eyed adversary.

Sierra pounced on the maiden. She fired her SMGs as she closed the distance between the two of them. Rouge weaved and spun her swords around herself, easily deflecting the rounds.

When the two closed to melee range, Sierra shot out her claws and slashing and raking at her opponent. She also mixed in quick and powerful kicks with the slashes. Rouge easily parried all her attacks.

Rouge interweaved her swords around herself as she struck at Sierra, however, she too had her attacks easily blocked and parried. The two of them seemed to be evenly matched for the time being.

As the two of them fought, their allies did as well. Luke spun his rope-dart around himself like a whip as he struck at Jet, the male dusk twin found it somewhat difficult to dodge the attacks. Meanwhile, Nilah blocked a kick from Violet, however the jerboa-faunus activated her boots' hydraulic soles and sent the psychotic girl sliding back. Shortly after that attack, Russell descended upon Nilah, but she jumped out of the way as his armored fist struck the ground.

Nilah smiled manically, "you two are fun!" She charged back in.

Rouge and Sierra were still stalemated, until the tiger-faunus's aura began to glow. The maiden swung her weapon down upon her, but her opponent disappeared the moment the blade made contact. Before Rouge knew what hit her, she got hit with an uppercut, sending her sliding backwards.

The maiden quickly composed herself and charged back in, exchanging blows, blocks, and parries with Sierra. Then again, the tiger-faunus's aura glowed and Rouge's strike only hit air as she received a violent round-house kick to the back of the head.

Rouge smirked, "I see what you're doing now." A vibrant flame like light surrounded the borders of the maiden's eyes while a flame was emitted from her feet and her swords caught fire. Like a rocket she shot towards her opponent.

Sierra fired her SMGs at the maiden as she raced towards her, but the bullets were deflected by a shield of fire. When Rouge closed the distance, she gave Sierra no room to even attempt to activate her semblance.

The tiger-faunus struggled to parry and block her opponent's attacks now that she was using her true power. Every time she attempted a counter when she successfully parried her, the attack she threw just bounced off her shield of flame.

Rouge knocked Sierra away with a slash of her swords and then bore down on her with an attack of wind and fire. The tiger-faunus was unable to dodge the attack and she took its full force. Her aura was shattered.

"Sierra!" Violet shouted. The jerboa-faunus then broke off her engagement of Nilah and charged Sierra.

"Violet don't!" Russell shouted, taking his eyes off Nilah for a moment.

In that moment as Violet leapt in the air to strike the maiden with a hydraulic kick, Nilah somersaulted over Russell, combined her war fans into a razor-sharp disk and threw it at the jerboa-faunus. Violet couldn't dodge the attack as she was in midair and the disk was moving far too fast. It sliced deep into the flesh of her neck and decapitated her. Her body and head hit the ground with a pair of thuds.

Rouge caught the now bloody war fans as she stared down Sierra, who was in shock at what had just occurred. She sighed, "you see, this is what happens when you defy the forces of good. Your friend didn't have to die, but in yours and your allies' arrogance, you killed her."

A feeling of dread fell over the remaining members of Team SLVR. A silence filled the square, with only the sounds of gunfire and explosions of the not so far off battle to break it. Soon, however this near-silence was wholly broken by growls and the scraping of claws on the ground. Grimm.

Sierra stood, "and you think now that you've killed my friend, that the rest of my team and I will join you? You're sorely mistaken." Her silver-eyes began to glow, and her aura began to regenerate.

"I never said any of that," Rouge smirked as she tossed the fans back to Nilah and rushed in to finish Sierra.

Grimm began to charge in from all around them. But when the beasts got near the six of them, Sierra unleashed her own power. The monsters were all vaporized instantly as her eyes glowed a vibrant, solid silver. They and their allies continued their engagements.

The maiden and the silver-eyed warrior clashed like gods locked in a duel for the ages. Kicks and claws were met with blade and flame as they fought. Nothing was held back, each one determined to kill the other.

Sierra threw a quick succession of slashes at Rouge, all of which the maiden parried and blocked with little effort. The silver-eyed tiger-faunus leapt back and fired a long volley from her SMGs at the maiden.

Rouge blocked her opponent's shots with a shield of flame she manifested in front of herself. "Is that the best you can do?!" She smirked from behind her shield. "Your master certainly played up your abilities to me. She said you were the next great huntress, on par with the likes of Ruby Rose and the Grimm Reaper." Rouge shot a fireball through her shield and into Sierra's chest, knocking her to a knee and breaking her aura once more. "It appears she was mistaken about your skills too."

Sierra took a deep breath, shut her eyes, and calmed herself. She replenished her aura once more as she drowned out everything around her, although it wouldn't be a strong as before. Her thoughts were filled with those she cared for; Ember, Arslan, Russel, Luke, and Violet. She thought of the good times they'd had together and the times they struggled but stood together. She thought of how Rouge corrupted her master and had just killed her friend. She opened her eyes, they glowed even brighter than before. From her kneeling position she pounced at the maiden, her claws fully extended.

She punched through the maiden's shield, snuffing it out. She threw slashes with her claws paired with kicks with the strength and ferocity of a lion. However, all her attacks were parried and dodged by Rouge.

The maiden parried a way one of Sierra's slashes. When she went to counter the silver-eyed warrior's attack, her aura glowed and once again she disappeared when her blades made contact.

Rouge smirked, "pathetic." She spun around as she ducked under a slash from her opponent, who was now behind her. She then pierced Sierra's aura and drove her short swords into the tiger-faunus's belly.

Sierra went wide-eyed but was unable to cry out in pain as the wind had been knocked out of her. She grabbed onto Rouge in a vain attempt to hold herself up as her legs had gone numb. She looked out to her remaining teammates. Nilah spun around multiple times as she laughed manically and then planted one of her war fans into Russel's chest, killing him near-instantly. Jet sliced through Luke's rope dart and then fired the blade of his ballistic-sword into his abdomen, killing him.

Rouge leaned closer to Sierra as the tiger-faunus began to spit up blood. "I told you, all of this could've been avoided, but you chose the side of evil." The maiden stepped back and pulled her blades out of Sierra's stomach. She collapsed to the ground, dead.

The maiden looked down on the red-haired faunus as she stood over her body. Rouge's feelings of malice were replaced with pity and sorrow for the girl. She watched as a stream of blood flowed from her mouth, across the tiger-stripe tattoos on her neck, and to the ground. She knelt and gently closed her dead foe's eyes. "Such a waist."

Jet and Nilah walked up to Rouge as she stood. "Where to now my lady?" the male Dusk twin asked apathetically.

"Our job is done here, we'll leave the city and link up with Albus's men for the next phase of our plan," the maiden said.

"Of course, my lady," Jet nodded.

As Jet was about to activate his semblance, the three of them came under fire once more. In the direction of Haven Academy, came Team BLAC. Cyrus had his weapon switched to its auto-shotgun form and was letting loose with a flurry of buckshot at Rouge and her allies. The three of them spread out from each other as they dodged Cyrus's shots. The two groups then faced one another.

Bianca looked around at the death surrounding them and a heavy sorrow fell over her when she saw Sierra's body. "You killed them," she said.

Rouge shrugged, "they forced my hand. You all can avoid their fate though." She looked away from Bianca, "can't they Cyrus?"

"What's she talking about bro?" Lucas asked, his hand ready to draw his katana.

Bianca looked to her partner, a look of confusion and concern filled her face. As she turned to him, he just stood there, his expression was one of disdain for Rouge. He looked ready for a fight.

Cyrus took a breath, and without breaking eye contact with Rouge, he spoke. "She wants the four of us to join her. She thinks we're 'worthy of salvation' or something like that."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Alyssa said.

"It means exactly what it does," Rouge replied. "I have deemed you four worthy of being a part of a new world that I will make, once I've cleansed this one of evil. So, what'll it be? Death…" She motioned to the bodies that lay around them. "Or salvation?" She held her arms out wide.

"You're crazy if you think we'd join a murderer!" Bianca shouted. "We're going to stop you here and now!"

"Yea!" Lucas and Alyssa shouted in agreement.

Cyrus remained quiet, but he shot Bianca a confident smile and nod. The four of them then readied themselves for a very real fight.

"Tis a shame," Rouge sighed. "Death it is then."

Rouge gave a motion with her head for Jet and Nilah to attack, the twins went after Lucas and Alyssa respectively. The maiden's eyes lit back up as flame manifested in her hands and once again engulfed her swords.

Nilah spun around like a crazed ballerina as she slashed at Alyssa with her war fans. She let out a psychotic laugh as she landed a hit on her faunus opponent, sending her sliding back. She tilted her head to the side and cackled as she watched the faunus slide to a stop.

Alyssa launched herself at Nilah with a blast from her shot-boots. Like a bullet she flew at her opponent. The blonde faunus pulled her fist back and chambered her shot-gauntlets as she neared her adversary.

Nilah chuckled manically as her aura glowed its white color. She whipped her head back and then shot it forward as she let out a sonic screech that knocked Alyssa to the ground. As she hit the ground, Alyssa folded her cat-ears down and covered her human ears as her over-sensitive hearing was being attacked.

Nilah ceased her screech. "Come on, I know you can do better than that," she smiled manically.

Alyssa picked herself off the ground and cocked her shot gauntlets. She rushed back into the fight.

Nilah grinned psychotically in response and counter charged Alyssa, laughing like a madwoman the whole time.

Nearby, Lucas and Jet clashed with their blades. They traded blocks, parries, and quick slashes and cuts, neither one gaining the upper hand initially.

Lucas jumped back away as Jet slashed at him. He shot a glyph under his own feet and then leapt high into the air as he drew his tanto. He combined his sword and knife and formed his yumi bow and loosed three dust arrows at his opponent.

Jet lifted his sword and fired the blade into the arrows, blowing them up between the two of them. He reloaded a second blade into his weapon and then fired it at Lucas.

Lucas parried the blade away as he fell back to the ground. He shot another glyph to the ground and landed on it, breaking his fall. He then split apart his weapons and rushed Jet.

As those two fought their duels against the Dusk Twins, Bianca and Cyrus faced off with Rouge. The maiden calmly walked towards the two silver-eyed warriors, her flaming swords held out to either side of her body. She smirked at them.

The two of them glanced at one another and then charged. Bianca being the faster of the two reached Rouge first. She threw interweaving slashes at the maiden, but she easily matched and parried them with her own weaving attacks. Rouge threw a fire-laden kick into Bianca's belly, sending her sliding away.

Cyrus then reached Rouge. He swung his longsword down upon her, but she blocked it with her flaming short-swords. She shoved him back, for a moment and the two began trading blows, blocks and parries. Rouge found Cyrus a bit more difficult of an opponent, but nonetheless she effortlessly countered his moves.

Bianca charged back in, and for a time, she and Cyrus engaged the maiden together. They fought together near flawlessly; Cyrus took center stage, engaging Rouge head on, whilst Bianca used her speed to rush in and out, delivering fluid expertly weaved slashes to their opponent. For a moment, they put Rouge on the back foot. For a moment.

Rouge crossed her arms, the flames dissipating from her swords as she built up a great amount of flame and wind around her body. She sprung her arms out and shot the elements out in a circle around herself, knocking her attackers away.

Bianca and Cyrus were reeling from Rouge's last attack as they attempted to pick themselves up from the ground. Cyrus was immediately set upon by the maiden. She put away her swords and blasted him with flames from the palms of her hands. He raised his longsword in front of himself and projected an aura barrier to block the attack.

Rouge turned up the heat of her attack and Cyrus's barrier began to crack. She walked closer as she shot the flames from her hands, continuing to increase the intensity. Finally, Cyrus's barrier shattered, and his aura with it.

The maiden walked around the silver-eyed boy as he struggled to pick himself up. She shook her head as she drew one of her blades, "you should've taken my offer when you had the chance. You and your brother wanted redemption and I handed it to you on a silver platter."

Bianca began to pick herself up at this point. When she pulled her body to her hands and knees, she saw Rouge standing over her partner. She tried to stand but collapsed back to the ground. She then looked to her other teammates, both were too distracted by their opponents to help either she or Cyrus.

Cyrus spat at Rouge's feet, his saliva was mixed with a bit of blood. "What you offered wasn't redemption. Lucas and I would've fallen back into our old lives, you would've condemned us once more."

Rouge's expression was one of ire as she looked down upon Cyrus. She kicked him onto his back and placed her foot on his chest, holding him down. "I don't normally do this, but I'm going to have to teach you a lesson before I cleanse your evil from this world."

Bianca's eyes widened as she heard what Rouge said. With all her strength, she tried to pick herself up, but continued to fall back down. "Come on, get up, get up!" She said to herself. "You have to save him, you can do this."

Her aura began to glow, albeit weakly, as she slowly stood. Bianca took a step and nearly fell back down, but she composed herself. Then, like a rocket she shot herself towards Rouge. She was prepared to sacrifice herself to save Cyrus, as her mother did to save her.

Rouge noticed Bianca attack her, she smirked. Without breaking eye contact with Cyrus, she charged a fire ball in her empty hand and shot it at Bianca. The silver-eyed girl raised her weapons to block the flame, but the attack was too powerful. The blades were shattered, the dust within them exploding. Her aura was broken, and she skipped across the ground as she hit it. Rouge then plunged her sword into Cyrus's right shoulder.

Cyrus screamed in pain as she sliced through his flesh and separated his arm from his body. Blood oozed from his shoulder as he grabbed where his arm had once been. The pain was unbearable and he soon lost consciousness.

Alyssa and Lucas's attention were pulled away from their fights as they heard Cyrus scream. Lucas's eyes widened in rage as he saw what Rouge had done to his brother, while Alyssa was in shock. However, before they could do anything, their opponents brought them back into their respective fights.

Bianca looked on in horror as she could do nothing to save her partner, the man she loved. With a whimper she cried, "no."

Rouge looked over Cyrus for a moment and raised her blade once more. "I'm not really one to make people suffer too much, so I'll put you out of your misery."

As she was about to snuff out Cyrus's light, a high-pitched charging noise could be heard fairly close by. Before Rouge knew what hit her, a tungsten railgun round slammed into her stomach and sent her tumbling across the ground and away from her victim. Team AYST rushed into the fray to aid Team BLAC.

"CHEE-HOO!" Alani shouted as she leapt and thrust her spear at Nilah.

"You again," the psychotic girl said. "I've been looking forward to a rematch."

"Al, Luc and I can handle these two, help Bianca and Cyrus," Alyssa said.

Alani nodded and looked to her teammates. "Eb, Yin, keep her pinned," she pointed to Rouge who was standing back up, her aura crackling from the shot she'd taken. "Roy, you get Cyrus, I'll help Bianca!"

"Got it!" The three of them replied.

Yin let loose volley after volley with his revolvers, whilst Ebony continued to fire her rail-sniper at the maiden as well. They kept her under constant fire and forced Rouge to create a shield of flame to deflect their rounds.

Roy ran up to Cyrus and nearly puked at the sight he was met with. He covered his mouth and gulped as he knelt over his friend. He felt for a pulse, there was one, but it was very weak. "Ok, think Roy, think, how to stop the bleeding?" He looked around for a moment and then at his dust infused gloves. He sighed, "sorry man, this is gonna hurt." He snapped his fingers, igniting the fire dust in his glove and pressed it to Cyrus's shoulder. The unconscious boy grimaced as the flame cauterized his wound.

Alani reached Bianca, she folded her spear and placed it on her back. She then picked her fellow team leader up and slung her arm over her shoulder. "It's ok Bianca, I've got you."

"Put me down, help Cyrus, please," tears fell from Bianca's eyes.

"Roy's already on it," Alani replied. "We'll get you guys out of here."

Roy and Alani carried Cyrus and Bianca out of the fight. Meanwhile, their teammates, along with Alyssa and Lucas began to make a fighting retreat away from their opponents. Nilah and Jet attempted to give chase but were called back.

"Let them go," Rouge commanded.

"But my lady…" Nilah was cut off.

"We've overstayed our welcome," Rouge stated. "It's time for us to end this battle."

The Dusk Twins bowed their heads to Rouge. The three of them gathered around one another as Jet's aura began to glow. A black mist manifested around the three of them and they disappeared into the shadows.

Around the perimeter of the upper city, the battle still raged. The Atlesian defenders together with the small contingent of Southern Islanders heroically held the line against an enemy of superior number. Despite their resilience however, Rouge's forces continued to push them.

Within one sector of battle, one of Rommel's officers was leading his men from the front. His saber was drawn as he shouted orders from atop the turret of his tank. As the fighting raged, his earpiece beeped. He pressed it, it was Field Marshall Berg that was contacting him.

"Commander Rayne," the Field Marshall said. "Our lady has ordered general retreat, und make it look convincing."

"Yes sir," Commander Rayne replied. After deactivating his earpiece, he surveyed the battle field for a moment before giving his orders. "All forces pull back! I repeat, pull back!"

Commander Rayne's men began a fighting retreat from the Atlesian defense lines. All throughout the city the same order was given, and similarly, other groups of the attackers began to retreat from battle. As they retreated, Bullheads and other light transports descended from the airships above and steadily, Rouge's army ended its attack on Mistral.

The defenders cheered in victory as the last of the attackers left the city and the airships disengaged from General Schnee's command ship. Among the commotion of victory, Princess Haukea stood silent and sheathed her daggers as her people and their Atlesian allies celebrated. She and all her brothers had made it through the fighting, however she couldn't help but worry for her sister.

Team AYST helped Team BLAC back to the evacuation zone. Despite the battle dying down and ultimately ending, the local authorities insisted on still evacuating all those from the academy. When the two teams arrived, The Atlesian Soldiers at the evac site had managed to drive off the last of the Grimm and once the area was secured, they set about fully overseeing the evacuation.

Medics rushed over to the two teams and began immediately tending to Bianca and Cyrus. However, they quickly determined Bianca's injuries to be minor and superficial at most. After treatment, the two teams were escorted onto the transport with the rest of those from Beacon Academy. Many looked on in shock as they saw the condition Cyrus was in. He wasn't the only one injured though, many others had bandages covering minor wounds, while Apollo had a metal brace strapped to his leg, keeping the bones in place, and Professor Haze had bandages wrapped around her head and several other parts of her body as she lay on the floor semi-unconscious.

Lucas knelt next to his brother as he was set down by the medics. He didn't make a sound, he only gazed upon his unconscious brother as sorrow filled his face.

Bianca hobbled over to the Grey Brothers, the look on her face was a mix of sorrow and shame. She tried to save her partner from this, but she failed, and she hated herself now for that. She couldn't bear to look at Cyrus in the state he was in. It was her fault it happened.

She turned to the other Grey Brother, "Lucas, I'm…" she was cut off.

"Get away," he said softly.

"Lu…" She didn't even get to finish his name before he leapt to his feet.

"I said get away!" He shouted.

Bianca continued to stand there but didn't say a word as she looked to the ground in shame.

"You could save that bastard Apollo, but not your own partner!?" Lucas continued to berate his team leader.

"Hey, I'm right here!" Apollo yelled, but no one payed him any mind.

"Luc, calm the hell down," Alyssa approached them.

Before she could get any closer, Lucas drew his katana and held the tip to Alyssa's neck. She could sense all the emotions running through his mind and body; sorrow, anguish, rage, and hate. All these emotions were gathered in the hateful, yet sad expression on his face as tears rolled down his cheeks.

Alyssa grabbed Bianca by her shoulder, "come on B, lets give him some space." The two of them then walked away.

All around the world people watched the battle take place. It was unbelievable to them that after over a hundred years of peace between the kingdoms that Vale would attack Mistral and by proxy, Atlas. The world was now on the brink of a Second Great War. But with all this commotion, there were those who weren't unsettled by it.

Within a popular Vale night club, a snake-faunus man dressed in all black and with eyes as silver as the shattered moon sipped on a fine glass of scotch. While all others within the club muttered and talked amongst themselves about what had just occurred, he looked up at the television news feed with an intrigued expression.

"Very interesssting," he said to himself as his scroll rang. He answered it, "Ah, hello War, what have you to report?"

"I believe I've found the next Summer Maiden candidate," he paused. "A young girl named Auxesia Ignis."

"Very good," the man in black said. "Keep tabsss on her."

"Yes, my king," War replied and then ended the call.

The man in black smiled evilly as he looked back to the news screen and took a sip of his bourbon. "It'sss almossst time."

Meanwhile, in another part of Vale, Weiss was frantically pacing back and forth trying to get ahold of Bianca. She got more and more worried for her daughter as she'd lost track of how many times she'd called and was on the verge of tears.

After yet another failed call, she looked down to her scroll, the battery was almost dead. "Dammit! And I forgot my charger today to. They should have a CCT terminal here, I think."

Weiss pocketed her scroll and began to hurriedly walk out of the room when she heard rustling coming from her wife's bed. Her eyes widened as she heard a muffled, yet very familiar voice.

"W-Weiss, is that you? W-why… Why can't I feel my legs?"

End Volume Two


End file.
